As an atheist I am of the opinion that no religion should be taught in schools since all religions are packed with superstitions without any evidence. Maybe we can teach stories from the scriptures just like other stories of Shakespeare or Harry Potter or Kalidasa are taught.
I am not an expert in myths. I have read a major part of the Bible, far more than most Christian devotees have read. My opinion is that the stories of the Bible are boring are childish.
I have read the Iliad on the Trojan war and and its sequel the Odyssey on the adventures of Odysseus after the Trojan war. They are far more interesting than the Bible. But I have not read the other Greek myths.
I have read the Epic of Gilgamesh which forms part of the Babylonian myths. These are also little better than any other myth.
In contrast the Ramayan and the Mahabharath are far more intriguing and mature... But in the final analysis they are also nothing but myths without any evidence and should be treated like Harry Potter stories which I understand are also very enticing.
I can say that the Mahabharath is the best myth I have read. But I cannot say it is the best in the world since I have not read all the myths of the world.
These myths may have had moral values for the people of those times, places and societies. But they have no significance for today's world. Instead each modern state has hundreds of thousands of rules and regulations enacted by elected bodies. What is more these modern laws and regulations are modified to accommodate changing social realities. In contrast religious laws and regulations never change and leave no room for improvement in an ever changing social environment.
The only people who benefit from religions are the priests. This has been recognized at least 5000 years ago. Thus 5000 or more years ago declared the Vedas to be incoherent rhapsodies whose only usefulness was to provide livelihood to priests. They also held the belief that Vedas were invented by man, and had no divine authority. The same can be said of any religion and/or religious texts.
In many religions including Hinduism and Christianity, fire is still made for poojas and ceremonies by the ancient way of rubbing two pieces of wood together. It is the same way with all religious practices and morals and dharma or whatever you call it.
In conclusion teaching religion in schools is a sheer waste of time like teaching children to how to make fire by rubbing wood together when we already have matches and other implements which can make fires without even a fraction of the effort in making the fire by rubbing wood together.
