Religion in Schools
Sometimes a subject just keeps coming at you, until you have to acknowledge it and give it the thought it deserves. Autumn’s Mom wrote a post the other day, in which she mentioned that Autumn’s 7th grade history class is teaching World Religions, and how she thinks that’s a great idea, and wishes she could take the class herself.
This reminded me of a podcast I heard recently on To the Best of Our Knowledge, in which they mentioned a book titled Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, and Doesn’t, by Stephen Prothero. From Amazon.com:
Prothero (American Jesus), chair of the religion department at Boston University, begins this valuable primer by noting that religious illiteracy is rampant in the United States, where most Americans, even Christians, cannot name even one of the four Gospels. Such ignorance is perilous because religion “is the most volatile constituent of culture” and, unfortunately, often “one of the greatest forces for evil” in the world, he writes. Prothero does more than diagnose the problem; he traces its surprising historic roots (“in one of the great ironies of…history, it was the nation’s most fervent people of faith who steered Americans down the road to religious illiteracy”) and prescribes concrete solutions that address religious education while preserving First Amendment boundaries about religion in the public square. Prothero also offers a dictionary of religious literacy and a quiz for readers to test their knowledge. This book is a must-read not only for educators, clergy and government officials, but for all adults in a culture where, as Prothero puts it, “faith without understanding is the standard” and “religious ignorance is bliss.”
In the interview, he talked about how little the current U.S. administration understands Islam, the religion and the cultures, and how this lack of knowledge hampers U.S. relations. Pretty interesting, and I would say, and worth a listen. You can hear the podcast by clicking here.
I was impressed by the idea of the book, but got caught up in moving/painting/staging our house stuff, and kind of forgot about it, until I read the post on Autumn’s Mom. Then I pushed it back into the recesses of my mind again, as I had more painting, window cleaner scheduling, etc. to take care of, in addition to my regular job and so on.
The idea would not leave me alone, however, as on Saturday, I received the fall issue of Teaching Tolerance, with a cover story titled, “One Nation, Many Gods“, and a tag that said, “A California school district learns how studying religion can open minds rather than close debate”. Hey, I thought, I wonder if this is Autumn’s school district they’re talking about? So I opened the magazine to check it out. Turns out that this bastion of religious tolerance is in ‘The Bible Belt of California’, the Central Valley. Modesto, no less, which isn’t known for being the most tolerant place on Earth, so I was impressed.
It turns out that a group of teachers put together a World Religions curriculum that is required for 9th grade students in the Modesto school district. They are the only district in the nation that requires such a course for High School graduation, which as I read more, I thought was too bad. When the curriculum was introduced, 7 years ago, it fit the state requirments for history and social studies. The state requirements have changed, and the class no longer fulfills these requirements, but it has been so successful in changing attitudes that administrators have decided to keep it in place.
One concern, of course, is the First Amendment separation of Church and State. This, administrators say, is not an issue…because they are teaching about religion, not teaching a religion per se. They start the course with First Amendment rights and responsibilities, then go on to teach about Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism. Learning about other religions gives the students a better grasp of their friends’ beliefs, and helps them to understand their culture. The students come away from the process more open minded, and accepting of religions that are not their own. They also come away with some understanding of the world, which the author of Religious Literacy would probably applaud.
It’s a very interesting article…you should go read it. I, for one, wish that learning about World Religions were required in every school district in the nation. And while atheism isn’t a religion, I wish that such a course would dispel a few myths about that as well.
15 Comments
Maya's Granny
I agree. I think that we know far too little about religion. It is shocking to me how little Christians know about Christianity, talk about other faiths. And, as we can see from the mess we are in right now, you need to know how other people think and feel.
Your Jewish Mother
Yes, we know far too little about other religions, and sometimes there are those who are santimonious about their own. I think they miss the entire point of religion.
Perhaps if we were more open to others’ beliefs, we’d even be more receptive to those in our own religion who differ from us somewhat.
Understand lacks. And is key.
Autumn's Mom
well that is exactly why I don’t spew too much, cuz I’m an illiterate christian! haha I’m interested in the book you posted about. I think it should be required in every school as well. Knowledge is power, and if we can learn more, maybe we can remove the fear of which we do not know.
Gina
Oddly enough, my Catholic high school offered a course in world religion.
lalunas
Kids today know so little about regilion… It may make for a more rounded education.
The Amendments, funny you should bring that up.
Last Sunday on the Emmy’s, Fox really pushed the button on wiping out the Freedom of speech Amendment.. They keep bleeping out the comments the Stars made. Shame how Amendments are just being tucked under the rugs.
ML
Yup, others are so wrapped up in their own religious beliefs, that I think something like this would make us all understand each other more.
kookiejar
Even though I am an atheist, I can see the value of a world religions class in high school. So much history has been influenced by religion, it’s good to have a basic understanding of what drives people to do what they do, good or bad.
Starshine
I had a public high school education, and in my world history class, we studied some of the tenents of world religions, but I would have loved to take an entire course on them.
What a great way to learn more about the world we live in! And I think it could also be a valuable tool to help a person reflect more on why one believes what one believes.
J
Starshine, that was one interesting point…before the class started in its first semester, some parents were worried that the class might cause the students to question their faith. But because they were only teaching ABOUT religion, not teaching religion, none of the students felt pressured, and no parents came back angry that their children had been converted or anything. Overall, very cool.
I took a class in world religions in college, but it would have been great to have one in HS, too.
Cherry
My brain in high school wouldn’t have gotten it. At that time in my life I was so anti anything having to do with my parents (one of whom is a minister) that I would have rebelled. I think.
Then again, I would really enjoy the class now, and perhaps something like this would have made me better understand my parents instead of pushing me away.
Py Korry
Sadly, ignorance doesn’t diminish with education. Case in point: a professor of so-called “Eastern religions” taught at a college in the South. After 9/11, some of his colleagues approached him about lecturing on Islam because, as one of his colleagues said, it was an eastern religion and something he specialized in. When the professor pointed out that Islam, Christianity and Judaism shared many common threads in their belief systems, the professor’s colleague remarked: “How can that be? I mean Islam is an eastern religion.”
Jess
I can’t honestly recall having any world religions classes in high school OR college; most of what I learned came through other courses or independent study. But I think such a course would have been very worthwhile and interesting.
ann adams
Modesto surprises me too. They’re doing a number of progressive things up there (from here it’s up) and we’re following in their footsteps to some extent.
We (Modesto and Merced) are in the 18th Congressional District and have one of the few Democrat Congressmen, now on his second term.
hellomelissa
great post, but particularly the last sentence. 🙂
dew
I read this article, too. My school has a “humanities” course (which is really a double course) and they spend some time on world religions, as well as philosophy and a few other things. My son is taking it now, and he really enjoys the discussions in the class. I think that learning how to discuss with people you disagree with in a setting like that, where you’re safe and there’s a moderator (the teacher) is also a good skill.