Religion in the Classroom

1
Religion in the Classroom

• Policies, questions, and resources

HUMANIST EMBLEM OF SPIRIT
2
What is there to discuss?

• Legal texts and policiesslides 3-6
• Demographics Student Populationslides 7-12
• College Educationslides 13-15
• Resourcesslides 16-17

BUDDHIST (Wheel of Righteousness)
3
The First Amendment

• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
  free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom
  of speech, or of the press or the right of the
  people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
  Government for a redress of grievances.
  (December 1791)

4
State Secular University

• Can we speak about religion in public schools?
• Two main debates cultural study of the Bible and
  creationism vs. evolution
• The 3Rs project Rights, Responsibility, Respect.
• Public schools uphold the First Amendment when
  they protect the religious liberty rights of
  students of all faiths or none. (Teachers Guide
  to Religion in Public Schools).

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CROSS
5
UU Policy on Free Speech

• The University must insure within it the fullest
  degree of intellectual freedom and protect the
  opportunity of all members of the University
  community and their guests to exercise their
  intellectual freedom and protect their right to
  communicate with others in the University
  community.

JUDAISM  (Star of David)
6
UU Accommodation Policy

• It is the students obligation to determine,
  before the last day to drop courses without
  penalty, when course requirements conflict with
  the students sincerely-held core beliefs. If
  there is such a conflict, the student should
  consider dropping the class. A student who finds
  this solution impracticable may request a content
  accommodation from the instructor.

MORMON (Angel Moroni)
7
What Population?

• American Adults Religious Identification
• Age 182001 2008
• Catholic 24.5 25.1
• Baptist 16.3 15.8
• Mainline 17.2 12.9
• Generic 6.8 5.0
• Charismatic 3.8 3.5
• Total Christian 76.7 76.0
• Jewish 1.3 1.2
• Muslim 0.5 0.6
• Buddhist 0.5 0.5
• Other Religions 0.9 1.2

MUSLIM (Crescent and Star)
8
http//www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/ari
s/key_findings.htm
9
http//www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/ari
s/key_findings.htm
10
Student Spirituality

• Percent Indicators of Students Spirituality
• Believe in the sacredness of life . . . . . . . .
  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
• Have an interest in spirituality. . . . . . . . .
  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
• Search for meaning/purpose in life .. . . . . . .
  . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
• Have discussions about the meaning of life with
  friends. . . .74
• My spirituality is a source of joy. . . . . .. .
  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
• Seek out opportunities to help me grow
  spiritually. . . . . . . . 47
• Describes students to some or a great extent
• Agree strongly or somewhat
• Consider it essential or very important
• http//www.spirituality.ucla.edu/index.html

HINDUISM
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"A" in Religiosity

• The survey conducted by UCLA shows that
• 80 of college students believe in God.
• 70 pray on a regular basis.
• 40 follow religious teachings in everyday life.

Main by Auguste Rodin, 1895
12
F in Religion
Mallard Fillmore about Protheros book

• Religious Literacy (2007), written by BU
  professor Stephen Prothero, gives the following
  statistics
• Only 10 of American teenagers can name all five
  major world religions.
• 10 of Americans believe Joan of Arc was Noahs
  wife.
• Most Americans cannot name the first book of the
  Bible.

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Two Possible Explanations

• One knows his/her religious tradition, but knows
  very little about other religious traditions.
• Knowledge is limited to ones own beliefs.

• One identifies and claims his/her religious
  identity without an intellectual inquiry of one
  kind or another.
• Knowledge is dissociated from ones own beliefs.

BAHAI (9 Pointed Star)
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Practicing Critical Thinking

• The University of Utah commits itself to
  providing challenging instruction for all its
  students, from both Utah and other states and
  nations, and encourages interdisciplinary work
  and the integration of instruction and research
  opportunities.
• Responsibility of higher education in opening to
  diversity and to critical inquiry in a safe
  environment. Three little things one can do
• Learn about the context in which you teach.
• Be aware of the various worldviews and
  convictions that will influence the classroom
  dynamic.
• Do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.
• Difficult relationship between religious beliefs
  and critical thinkinghow do we deal with that
  issue?

ATHEIST
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The Academic Study of Religion

• The academic study of religion is fundamentally
  an anthropological enterprise. That is, it is
  primarily concerned with studying people
  (anthropos is an ancient Greek term meaning
  human being logos means word or a rational,
  systematic discourse), their beliefs, behaviors,
  and institutions, rather than assessing the
  truth or truths of their various beliefs or
  behaviors. An anthropological approach to the
  study of religion (which is not to say that the
  study of religion is simply a sub-field of
  anthropology) is distinguished from a
  confessional, religious, or theological approach
  (theos is an ancient Greek term for deity or
  god) which is generally concerned with
  determining the nature, will, or wishes of a god
  or the gods. RUSSELL T. MCCUTCHEON

WICCA (Pentacle)
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Campus Life
NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA

• Interfaith Student Council
• Interfaith Advisory Board
• Utah Interfaith Resources http//www.docdavis.org
  /utah_interfaith_resources1.htm
• Religious Studies Program http//www.idstudies.ut
  ah.edu/religious/

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Web Resources
CHRISTIAN CROSS

• Resources about religion teaching
  http//www.teachingaboutreligion.org/
• Religion in the classroomresources and
  discussions http//www.firstfreedom.org/index.htm
  l
• Court decisions regarding evolution/creationism
  http//www.don-lindsay-archive.org/creation/voices
  /legal/bkgrd.htm
• Religious emblems http//www.cem.va.gov/hm/hmemb.
  asp
• Association of American Colleges and
  Universitiesissue on big questions
  http//www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-sp07/index
  .cfm
• Stephen Protheros website http//www.stephenprot
  hero.com/
• U.S. Department of Education on Religion in
  Public Schools http//www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/
  religionandschools/index.html