Stephen C. Ainlay makes some excellent points in his discussion of the role of educating students about religion in his October 11 editorial featured in the Albany (NY) Times Union. Ainlay, the president of Union College in Schenectady, NY, discussed the importance of being aware of many religious traditions in a globalized society.
‘Religious fluency is crucial in an interconnected world. Companies like IBM have moved beyond global competition to global collaboration with their “integrated networks.” Connections between peoples and cultures are more frequent than ever before. To succeed as global citizens, we must develop a breadth and depth of knowledge about religious beliefs, traditions, rituals and worldviews other than our own. At one level, this is about etiquette. Even in America, it is easy to offend people by not acknowledging, or by acknowledging when one shouldn’t, the observance of religious holidays or rituals. It’s also about increasing the odds of success in interpersonal encounters. Success in the global market requires an awareness of family life, social institutions, dietary restrictions, attire and holidays – aspects all affected by religion.’
Ainlay goes on to discuss the importance of being aware of other’s traditions as an important part of respecting them as human beings. These two points (the importance of knowledge of religion as a path to success and as a fundamental aspect of respecting and honoring fellow students and fellow humans) bring in to focus the argument that teaching religion in schools is not only necessary but also essential to the purpose of education. Practically speaking, teaching religion in a public school is a frightening proposition – it is certainly harrowing enough in a private religious school. Students who are learning to engage their ability to reason often have incomplete and improperly formed opinions and the danger for ineffective teaching creating a hostile (or even violent) response certainly cannot be set aside easily. That being said, I will attempt to counter the argument from the perspective of the educator: students need desperately to learn how to reason for themselves in addition to their need to be aware of world cultures and religions. Not meaning to be flippant, but if teachers are afraid of negative response to their teaching then how do they expect to survive in education? The proposition laid forth is a challenging one but if it is theoretically necessary then the onus is on the educator to rise to the challenge.
Education and Religious Fluency
Stephen C. Ainlay
October 11, 2008
Du sollst wachsen wie ein Zwiebel mit deinem Kopf in Boden 
20 October, 2008 at 22:36
Greg,
This is a very interesting and controversial issue and I am glad you chose to write about it. I completely agree with you that religion should be covered in schools. The only problem is, where does it cross the line from teaching to preaching? Religion is a rich part of our history and needs to be understood in order to fully see how the world evolved. I also think that you are right when you suggest that it enables tolerance within schools. If students are able to see how alike religions actually are, and understand the moral components that they are made up of then a unity might develop. Today’s society lives in ignorance about beliefs that are different than their own. Therefore, you make a strong argument when you suggest that teaching religion will open up the minds of many people. This is a very hot issue and it is not as simple as black and white. I really enjoyed reading your blog because it took a very practical and convincing stance. Now the only question is how are we to approach religion in a diplomatic way without letting personal biases influence the material?
Thank you for sharing your blog with me and good luck with further investigation of this topic. I think you have a good thing going here:)
20 October, 2008 at 23:18
This was a really interesting post! I think that it is very important to be at least somewhat culturally aware, and the diversity of religion plays a huge role in cultural variance. I did have a world religions unit in a high school course, and I also created a world religions independent study, but I do not think that world religions is currently a popular subject among schools. I agree that some school time should be devoted to religious awareness. If students are raised and educated within a realm where one religion appears dominant, or in an area where religion is practically ignored altogether, they will probably have to adapt to the open diversity of the world beyond their neighborhood at some point in time…and why not prep them beforehand? Educating students about diversity in a range of aspects, including religion, seems to be a great idea to me. Religious awareness not only prevents naivety among students, but also promotes success in an increasingly interconnecting world.
21 October, 2008 at 10:11
This topic is extremely controversial. However, I can’t help but recall the “American Dream” papers we read and discussed about in class. I don’t agree with the author of your article, based on the first amendment American’s have the freedom of religion. Therefore, by forcing religion into public schools we are telling students what is right and what is wrong based on that religion, they no longer think for themselves as you stated. In addition to that we are forcing a belief system which doesn’t broaden their minds about other cultures but rather gives students a example in which to base other religions that aren’t their own. I don’t want to sound atheist, however, I believe the way school systems are set up today works perfectly. Those parents who have a strong religious background have an opportunity to send their children to private schools where religion is taught alongside the curriculum. Contrary; those parents who believe differently can send their children to a public school where religion is not preached within the classroom. Obviously there are some differences between the two types of schools but as American’s we should be given a choice and allowed to make a decision that is best for ourselves. After saying that I really need to stress how religion is important. Although religion may not be important to some it is to others, in fact in other cultures around the world it is their daily life. Therefore I believe it is important to teach all religions not just one, but to show students how diverse the world actually is. Teachers, as Blaine has so wonderfully stated one, are the givers of tools and students are the acceptors. How and what students decide to use the tools for is ultimately up to them.
21 October, 2008 at 10:52
I agree with you that students should be taught about religions in schools. When I was in high school, as part of our study of the Middle East in my Regional Studies class, we studied different religions and I loved it. Of course, because we were studying the Middle East, we really only studied the three religions that are prominent there: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Teaching students about religion (without advocating one over the other in a public school setting) can be a very valuable experience. Religion is something that can affect everything that a person does, and by understanding a person’s religion, you can often gain a better understanding of them and their culture. Indeed, when learning about places like the Middle East, it would be very difficult to teach culture without teaching religion because the two are so tightly intertwined. You can’t even teach certain parts of history or read certain poems or stories without teaching students about religion. Anxiety over being politically correct and appeasing over-zealous “separation of church and state” supporters should not stop teachers from teaching students about religion because it is an important aspect of the human condition. While religion can be a controversial subject, it doesn’t have to be if approached in a respectful and objective manner.
21 October, 2008 at 10:54
I really feel like this a huge controversial issue, but I don’t totally see the huge controversy. I get that parents don’t always want their children to be exposed to different religions or cultures that they don’t understand. I understand the desire to shelter your child from the world. But I think that when it is appropriate the teacher should take the opportunity to give everyone a voice. It is not a place for the instructor to lecture or preach at students, but maybe the students should simply be exposed to the different cultures.
For instance, in an English class if you are reading a piece from early American literature and it involves the Puritans, by all means discuss their religious beliefs and help students put the story in a more accurate context. Similarly, if your class is reading a biography of Ghandi I think it is quite appropriate to discuss Hinduism and some of the practices. This way your students have a better idea of Ghandi’s beliefs.
21 October, 2008 at 15:54
I was pleased to read your case for teaching religion in schools. I think the fight or flight reaction has been instilled in many people concerning religion, as if it should always be a subject of debate. If religion were to be taught in schools, opinions would have to be left at the door. I believe most high school students are not quite mature enough or politically correct enough to carry out a debate about religion in school. And why should they? Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. Teaching religion is not about thrusting a set of beliefs upon a person. It is just another branch of history. It’s definitely a touchy subject though, no doubt about it. I believe if we conquered this fear of talking about beliefs in high school, students would be better equipped for, as much as I hate to use this phrase, the REAL WORLD. I don’t think there is enough emphasis on being culturally aware in high school. My high school was all about America, America, America. And while I find no harm in patriotism, I do think it is pretty selfish not to learn about other cultures. There was no focus on geography or world history or ANYTHING cultural at my school. It’s a shame that any educational institution could be that self-absorbed.
22 October, 2008 at 20:53
This is as excellent issue to raise when many institutions seem to be going in the opposite direction, so they don’t step on anybody’s toes. The fact is that people do need to be able to learn and be “fluent” in all international religions in order to create a global community. Not only does it allow for interconnectedness among people, but it also allows for someone to make an informed decision, on their own, as to what religion their values align with, or even if it leads them to decide to disassociate themselves from any religion. It is sad to think that most schools just want to avoid the issue completely. It keeps kids from bringing up issues that are very important to society today. If they do not deal with the issues when they are in a more comfortable school setting what is going to happen when they are confronted with it in real life? Isn’t that what education is about? Getting students ready to take on, or improve society? How will they do that if they don’t have a finger on the pulse of society?
22 October, 2008 at 23:14
I think that teaching about religion in public schools–something like a “Survey of Religion” class– is a great idea, for all of the reasons outlined in Greg’s post and the responses to it. The key to teaching religion in schools, it seems to me, is to teach it as yet another of the humanities, without placing any particular moral value on the teachings themselves. What sets religion apart from the humanities is the presence of faith. I can read the Koran in translation (in fact I have read parts of it), but that doesn’t mean that I place any more value on it than on a piece of secular philosophy.
What the study of “other people’s religions” does is to de-mystify it and thereby make it less threatening to those who previously did not understand it, since we all tend to fear that which we don’t fully understand.
What I would like to do is to teach a World Cultures class in a high school setting. I think it would be incredibly useful to the intellectual development of the students AND incredibly interesting to teach!
30 November, 2008 at 14:31
I hope that one day religion will be taught in the classrooms. Teachers are too afraid to mention or teach any ideas about religion based on the seperation of church and state. I wish this was not the case though. I feel many students advance to college without any education on other religions besides their own. This leads to many discrimitive problems, simply because students cannot accept something that is different. In school religions need to be looked at as theories instead of beliefs so students are not felt like they are being preached at. Learning about different religions is a backbone to understanding more about different cultures. If students had a better understanding about other cultures we might be able to escape many of the discrimitive problems we face today.
How someone might go about teaching religion though would be very interesting. Like many others have commented already you would have to find a way to teach and not preach. The topic will upset many parents, but I say they just need to get over it so their children can have a better understanding of the world and its people.
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