Are parents limiting their children?
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for public schools may be persuading communities into agreeing with religious studies and why lessons about religion could help students extensively. The First Amendment does not limit religious teaching as much as some might think but the majority of problems with religion in the public classrooms come from parents of students. For example, “Some parents feared that if their children learned about another religion, they might fall out of love with their own faith” (qtd. in Anderson). Parents do not think about the positive benefits that come from learning about different religions but instead selfishly worry about their children being exposed to religious teaching that are not of their own religion. This is especially true for first through twelfth grade students, who are still very impressionable. By parents trying to control how much religion is taught within the classroom, they limit their children’s knowledge of the world that could one day help them. The teaching of different religions is important to study because it allows students to get a full education.
To sum it up, “Much of history, art, music, literature…is unintelligible without the understanding of major religious ideas and influences that have shaped history and culture throughout the world” (Teaching about Religion). Teachers just have to learn when it reaches the limit of controversy. The First Amendment Center states that teachers must have a clear understanding between the difference of teaching about religion and teaching of religion. It also states in a court case, Abington v. Schempp:
“[I]t might well be said that one’s education is not complete without a study of comparative religion or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization. It certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities. Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment” (qtd. in Teaching about Religion).
Learning about how different religions affected history can give students an inside look into how people lived in the past. It opens up students minds to new ideas, concepts, and way of life. At the end of the day, this allows students to be less judgmental and more accepting of different cultures. Americans are ignorant enough as it is about religion. In an article by Joseph Laycock, he writes that despite being a widely diverse nation, America’s level of religious knowledge is minimal. A survey taken by the Pew Forum in 2010 “asked more than three thousand Americans some simple questions about the world’s religions. Most…answer only half of them correctly” (Laycock). Many would think that because the United States is such a diverse nation many more people would be more accepting and open to learning about foreign religions without prejudice; nonetheless many Americans continue to shelter themselves from any belief system that is not their own.
To sum it up, “Much of history, art, music, literature…is unintelligible without the understanding of major religious ideas and influences that have shaped history and culture throughout the world” (Teaching about Religion). Teachers just have to learn when it reaches the limit of controversy. The First Amendment Center states that teachers must have a clear understanding between the difference of teaching about religion and teaching of religion. It also states in a court case, Abington v. Schempp:
“[I]t might well be said that one’s education is not complete without a study of comparative religion or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization. It certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities. Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment” (qtd. in Teaching about Religion).
Learning about how different religions affected history can give students an inside look into how people lived in the past. It opens up students minds to new ideas, concepts, and way of life. At the end of the day, this allows students to be less judgmental and more accepting of different cultures. Americans are ignorant enough as it is about religion. In an article by Joseph Laycock, he writes that despite being a widely diverse nation, America’s level of religious knowledge is minimal. A survey taken by the Pew Forum in 2010 “asked more than three thousand Americans some simple questions about the world’s religions. Most…answer only half of them correctly” (Laycock). Many would think that because the United States is such a diverse nation many more people would be more accepting and open to learning about foreign religions without prejudice; nonetheless many Americans continue to shelter themselves from any belief system that is not their own.