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Sunday, March 25, 2007

Religion in the classroom

Last week I wrote about a new book called Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't by Stephen Prothero, chair of the Boston U. religion department (quoted below). Something I've advocated for a long time is teaching world religions in public schools below the university/college level, which is done in very few school systems across the country. Developing a curriculum that doesn't tread too close to the separation of church and state but that teaches students the importance of understanding different cultures is not easy, but something that needs to be done more widely. A story published today at Time.com about teaching The Bible in public schools (emphasis mine):

To some, this idea seems retrograde. Citing a series of Supreme Court decisions culminating in 1963's Abington Township School District v. Schempp, which removed prayer and devotion from the classroom, the skeptics ask whether it is safe to bring back the source of all that sectarianism. But a new, post-Schempp coalition insists it is essential to do so. It argues that teaching the Bible in schools--as an object of study, not God's received word--is eminently constitutional. The Bible so pervades Western culture, it says, that it's hard to call anyone educated who hasn't at least given thought to its key passages. Finally, it claims that the current civic climate makes it a "now more than ever" proposition. Says Stephen Prothero, chair of the Boston University religion department, whose new book, Religious Literacy (Harper SanFrancisco), presents a compelling argument for Bible-literacy courses: "In the late '70s, [students] knew nothing about religion, and it didn't matter. But then religion rushed into the public square. What purpose could it possibly serve for citizens to be ignorant of all that?" The "new consensus" for secular Bible study argues that knowledge of it is essential to being a full-fledged, well-rounded citizen. Let's examine that argument.

Read the full story here.

Posted by Will at March 25, 2007 01:18 PM in In the News

Comments

i think the whole issue is rediculous. it's calles Freedom of Religion, and Freedom of Speech.
Religion is not profane, so i see no reason not to teach it in schools.

Posted by: Ryoko [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 8, 2007 10:44 PM