[Cloud]

huh. I did not realize that, you guys. I mean, I knew intellectually, historically, that Britain does not have "separation of church and state," cause, you know, that was kind of the colonists' point (one of them, anyway), but didn't realize that your schools included compulsory RE.

Comparative religions is pretty much taught here through history and social studies classes. This was true for me, though obviously I can't speak for all US kids. (Do they still teach history and social studies? <cough>.

Oddly enough, in 9th grade, we studied the Old Testament in literature class--as literature. This was very valuable to me, because otherwise I would not have read it, and knowledge of the Bible is important for cultural literacy, at a minimum. No one said a thing about it back then. But it was, um (counts backward) - about 1970. Guess that's an indicator of how the cultural climate has changed here since then.