Religion Should Be in the Public Schools

Stop treating religion as taboo and start treating it as a very relevant element in our lives whether you actively practice or not. Knowledge is power that can lead to understanding, acceptance, and respect.
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Before you get defensive let me say that I am not referring to prayer. I am advocating for religious literacy and the best way to achieve this is by teaching children in the home and in the schools beginning at an early age about the many faith and spiritual traditions.

What about "separation of church and state"? Those words do not appear in the Constitution of the United States. The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution does say that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." By teaching about all religions we avoid establishing one and do not stand in the way of anyone freely practicing their religion of choice. I would even argue that teaching about all religions helps us to determine our religion of choice.

For better or worse, we are all forced to encounter religion throughout our lives. Historically, religion has played a tremendous role in influencing the world and continues to do so. Just pick up a newspaper or watch the news and look for stories that address religion and you will find that there is rarely a day that passes without either mentioning religion.

How many houses of worship are in your community? Are you able to intelligently speak about what each tradition represents? Do you have an opinion about any or all of the faiths? We hear about freedom of religion all the time and now we are hearing more about freedom from religion. Well, realistically, there is no freedom from religion. You may not want religion thrust directly into your life but you are living in a world where religion is everywhere and it affects everyone. So why are we so opposed to learning about religions?

One of the more common, yet unrecognized, reasons is fear and it's a fear that comes in many forms. Fear of angering the God we have always worshipped; fear of learning that other religions may be appealing thereby weakening our commitment to the religion we have always believed to be the right one; fear of what others may think if I convert or find another tradition enticing, and these are to name just a few. Of course, we can't forget guilt as another reason. Many religions, or religious leaders, are very effective in using fear and guilt to keep us loyal. I once had a campus minister tell me that his job was to bring people to God and that it didn't matter how he got them there. Really?! So how do we eliminate this fear and guilt?

We can eliminate fear and guilt by becoming knowledgeable. We often fear what we do not understand so let's increase our understanding and the best way to do that is through educational efforts that are done in a non-threatening way in a safe environment. Schools should be considered a safe environment for learning and a well-planned religious curriculum would present information in a neutral manner. No biases, no condemnations of any religions or promotion of one over the others, and no proselytizing. Simply provide information on what each religion teaches, its' historical development, and allow discussion.

Working in higher education and speaking with students and staff has shown me that there is very little knowledge about religion but a great deal of misunderstanding. The best opportunity to begin teaching about religion is when children are young and have not been influenced by opinion and misinformation. Still, most arrive at college believing that religion should not be permitted in public schools. Is this the best way to prepare future generations for what they will have to deal with as adults?

We must overcome our trepidation over learning about and discussing religion. Stop treating religion as taboo and start treating it as a very relevant element in our lives whether you actively practice or not. Knowledge is power that can lead to understanding, acceptance, and respect.
Let's stop using religion as a way to separate us and begin treating it as something to be shared and celebrated.

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