Religion is apart of everyday life. There is no way to avoid it. As Americans we “trust in God,” we affirm that we are “one nation under God,” and we continually promote legislation that is aligned with Christian belief (i.e. marriage). We are a society that is engrained with Christianity, whether you believe in it or not. Of course, there are many Americans who aren’t Christian. In fact, there are a plethora of Americans who don’t believe in God, have a different God, or simply don’t care about religion. There are the atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and a variety of other religions throughout the states. In many cases, people don’t understand these other religions, and in doing so neglect them whether doing so consciously or unconsciously.
Religion is a massive amount of culture. Believe it or not, the American citizens walking around represent a lot of world cultures that are often neglected due to the inability to teach our children about the world. In Ghana (a primarily Christian nation), public schools teach religion and moral ethics as a part of the students’ primary subjects. Within the classes, students learn about what Christians believe, however they also split time learning about the Muslim religion, and the ethnic and traditional religions throughout the country. This is where WE learn from Africa.
Parents and politicians listen instead of writing this off.
We are doing a disservice to our students if we don’t teach religion in schools. It is difficult to teach about other cultures without first understanding what they believe in. Yes, parents are going to call their school administrators and tell them to NEVER listen to this crazy college student, but here is a little side note…are you going to remove your child from school when they get to a government class and the teacher has to teach about being a Democrat or Republican? The same goes for religion.
A good teacher (as we all hope teachers are) will challenge students to study and examine religion as a part of a cultural practice. I personally wish I was able to know what Muslims believe in or how those who are Jewish differ from Christians. There is a need to teach religion, not to persuade students to a religion, but to encourage them to become culturally diverse and understand the views of others. Why can’t schools incorporate religion into social studies classrooms?
I know you’re afraid America, but children need to discover, they need to grow, and they need to educated with a global mindset. We are a nation full of diverse people and cultures and will always be. As a nation already behind in education, we have nothing to lose and only an infinite amount to gain. Take a bold step and think about why religion should be used in classrooms.
Comments are much appreciated. I only learn through others perspectives.
*A side note should be written that I believe that religion would be best integrated into high school social studies curriculum. I do not believe elementary is a suitable level to delve into the topic. Middle school is another area worth exploring (it seemed to work in Ghanaian public schools).
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I beg to differ on the elementary level. There are, indeed, 3 foundations to quality education: academics, social service and spirituality. We here in the U.S. are sold on only one of those foundations and, for that reason, are constantly attempting to “find ourselves”. Some schools are good at teaching the “hidden curriculum” of service, but very few, even Catholic schools, are able to teach spirituality correctly. Hence, the current movement toward homeschooling.
That’s a good point. There is a definite need for education to teach self-awareness. This is the start of a process leading to cultural-awareness of self and others, an example of my spirituality.
I learned about world religions in my 6th grade social studies class (in a Catholic school, surprisingly) as well as in Area Studies courses in high school. Start with the basics: the 5 Pillars of Islam, the 10 Commandments, the eightfold path, etc. It doesn’t have to turn into a heated debate — it’s the teacher’s job to keep it objective and informative at first until the basic knowledge is established.
My cousin attends Gettysburg, too, and I look forward to reading more of your writing.
-N. Halden
The root of conflict between Americans and most Middle Eastern countries is because of religious differences more so than cultural or geo-political differences.
Ignorance of religious differences is a far greater enemy than suicide bombers or nuclear proliferation..
Interesting thought. I learned about religions in 7th grade social studies. My daughter is learning about the Incan, Mayan, and Aztec religious practices as part of what defined them. It is virtually impossible to understand the history of Europe up to and including the enlightenment without understanding how Christianity, Judaism and Islam. There is a huge difference between teaching religious practices and preaching. That is where we need to draw the line.
I agree! I attend a liberal Christian university, which is openly accepting of all faiths, but requires every student to take two religion classes, one about Christian traditions and one about other traditions (rather misnamed “global” religious traditions). I was talking to a classmate and she said she was so glad that she’d had those classes, because now she understood history. She literally hadn’t understood her history classes before because SO much of history revolves around religious conflicts or movements. I’d never experienced that because I’d been homeschooled and taught the traditions of my own (fairly conservative) religious faith and the faiths of others. I was horrified to discover that students were missing out on such a basic subject as history because they couldn’t even study ABOUT religion.
As someone raised in a particular tradition, who wants to raise my children in the same tradition, I would tend to agree with you about saving these studies for middle school—when students are more grounded in their own beliefs or at least have more independence to choose their own beliefs more fully. However, I’m currently studying educational practice in Hungary, and in one of my favorite schools (a nonreligious alternative school, to be clear), the children study Judaism in third grade. Why? Well, here in Hungary antisemitism still runs rampant—and the history of such theories is more chilling than it is in American. (One word: Holocaust.) By teaching these children about Judaism early, they hope to counteract these feelings. They don’t have to be Jewish, but they can understand Jewish people. Also, I remember learning about Islam, from a sympathetic viewpoint, as young as six years old. It’s fueled a long-standing interest that current events have only sharpened—and because of this early exposure, I cannot dismiss the entire Middle East as a bunch of fanatics who make no sense. At the same time, I’m still a fairly devout and conservative member of the tradition in which I was raised. So I’m on the fence about teaching about religion in elementary school—my instinct says no, yet my experiences say yes.
Chris, I am so happy that you have this opportunity to experience life in another country and to learn that there are other ways of thinking and doing things.
As an immigrant to the United States who did not go to school here, it comes as a surprise to me to learn that American schools do not teach students about world religions. Religion is an integral part of every culture.
Very interesting post. Although I was raised in an agnostic household, and remain agnostic to this day, in my teens and early twenties I ate up religious/spiritual texts so that I could learn about the world around me. My heavens humans are beautiful and diverse creatures! It shouldn’t be too surprising that my undergraduate degree is in Anthropology! As long as religion isn’t preached in the classroom, or one isn’t promoted over another, then I see no problems with teaching children about religions, including those other than the major faiths. The only way it may get sticky is if children bring their parents’ prejudices with them to class and say inappropriate things in discussions that are hurtful to their peers. But, I think this sort of education could really broaden the next generation’s minds, making them more globally aware, more empathetic, and help develop their critical thinking skills.
Very well said! I agree with you 100%.
Well, about half of Americans accept the traditional Judeo-Christian valuation of human life and the remainder accepts convenience abortion. The Constitution guarantees religious practice and the U.S. government now mandates practices that violate Judeo-Christian morality. There seems little doubt that the political :Left, including both parties, is moving toward the expulsion of churches from public discourse and influence, arrogating total power to government. That seems to me the salient socio-political struggle of our era. Its ultimate result will likely shape human lives for a very long time…
Public schools, as implements of government, seem pretty likely to be used for this so far as the voters are prepared to allow. Thus far, there seem to be few effective objections..If this is so, the teaching of religion in public schools seems likely to be largely avoided or if taught, performed in ways inimical to believers. Unless, of course, things change…. or so it seems to me.
Religious differences have always played a role within societies and the “behind” many wars. I agree with this posting as long as the truth both good and bad is told in regard to religions around the world. Example, if you teach the Muslim religion you must also tell the truth about Sharia – it cannot be separated.
Reblogged this on darwinsoesanto.
Excellent thoughts here. I teach at a small Christian college and you’d be surprised how difficult it is, even there, to integrate faith and learning. We’ve just made religion something amputated from the rest of our experience. If you’d like to investigate a little further, I’m reading an excellent book by James K.A. Smith called Desiring the Kingdom and it really explores the territory you’ve opened up here, ultimately asking the question “what is a Christian education?” Excellent post. I look forward to following you in the future! Hopefully your posting will inspire my own!
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Chris, thank you for visiting my blog. When my older sons attended public school, they were introduced to various religions in 5th grade. The school took the class to services in Catholic, Christian, Jewish and Muslim temples. I appreciate your post and agree that religion is important to teach as part of global studies and history. However, faith and religion are two separate concepts in and of themselves. Faith does not always follow religion, neither will being “religious” equal faith. I once had a friend who insisted that he would allow his children to choose for themselves what religion best suited them, and that sums up what many many Americans feel about faith. But for those of us who really believe in finding THE truth, we are not satisfied playing the game of religion. Instead, we yield to the one and only all powerful creator, the true God who is beyond human comprehension. “John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
I think it’s good to teach, what we in the UK call, comparative religion so that children learn about the validity of other religions, or none. Our current government is, however, encouraging the introduction of government-funded “faith schools”, which are specifically Christian, Catholic, Muslim, whatever, and can select students on that basis . I have no problem with religious bodies setting up, and financially supporting, schools for their own children, but I do have a problem with them being supported by public funds. Schools should be secular – and you’d think we would have learnt that lesson from the problems Catholic versus Protestant schools caused in Northern Ireland.
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Fear is the great oppressor. The lack of opportunity to learn about views different from the local school board is one form of oppression fear creates. Until we evolve as a society into the “Home of the Brave”, fear will continue to prevent us from being the “Land of the Free”.
Very interesting article. I agree that a good education includes religious instruction. However, I do not think we can trust politicians to administer any education system.
American public education began as a local endeavor with parents in charge. Since then, our politicians have steadily increased their influence. Some, no doubt, honestly want to improve or fix our education system. For most of them, I fear, it is just about having more money to spend and more prestige. In any event, what they have done is make a mess, and the problem you point out is just one among many.
Even if we did not have the issue of political corruption, public education would still pose a nearly insolvable dilemma. Given the heterogeneity of America, how do we create a system that pleases everyone? And why would we want to?
Although a good idea, I think the misunderstanding of “the separation of Church and State” will make this impossible. Furthermore, most “textbook” treatment of subjects can be overly simplistic to the point of rank error — accurate knowledge of a religion involves knowledge of the religion’s history, traditions, practices, influence on life and culture, etc. I teach at a Catholic high school and we have tracts for Catholic and non-Catholic Christian studies, which include understanding world religions and non-Catholic Christian beliefs. The purpose is to deepen the student’s understanding of his own religious background, as well as to teach understanding of others’ beliefs in order to foster respect and tolerance. Maybe other Christian schools need to amp it up in these areas!
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Exceptionally well written!