Beyond belief

Learning about religion is not the same as learning religion

April 13, 2010

NU Magazine – April 2010

Since this nation’s founding, church and state have been recognized as separate entities. Of course there is some blurring. This is especially the case with schools and their curricula.

Public schools may not promote religious belief or include religious indoctrination. Such teaching would violate the freedom of conscience protected by the First Amendment, although some schools test the boundaries.

However, while public schools may not teach religion, they may teach about religion, including the Bible or other scripture.

My school is a private school, so we do not have to tangle with the tricky legal issue of religion. Private schools are free to teach what they will. As my school is not affiliated nor has ever been with any religion, our curriculum includes some religious study, but only in an academic light.

Unlike at religious schools, we do not have scriptural classes or religious services, nor do we learn Bible in a religious way. Instead, we touch on Judaism (as well as Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Greco-Roman religion, and countless others) in other classes. Currently, we have no course dedicated exclusively to religion, though two years ago we had a course on religion that died due to a lack of interest.

We now learn about religion in our history classes. In discussing other cultures, we often discuss their religions.

In ninth grade, all students are required to take a class called Ancient World. In this class, we cover religion. We read the Bible, but we do not discuss it in a religious way; rather a literary and historical one.

Of course, my teacher and classmates are respectful of those who regard the Bible as their religious tradition, but we don’t examine it as religious truth. That same year, we also discussed Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Greco-Roman religion. We paid the same amount of time and attention to each religion and discussed them all equally. We read myths for the Greco-Roman religion, and parts of the Qur’an as well as countless other religious texts.

Other classes also cover religion. However, some classes are more weighted to certain religions, but this does have to do with the subject matter. For instance, I took AP Art History last year and we covered Christian tradition almost exclusively.

Though we did talk about Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism to some extent, Christianity eclipsed all of these religions. This is not because of bias, but because the study of Western art is so heavily influenced by Christianity.

Similarly, AP European History concentrates more on Christianity than other religions. As we covered the Reformation and Counter-reformation, we discussed Christian theology extensively.

One of my fellow students sees it this way: “After ninth grade, my classes have avoided religion for the most part,” says Noah Weingarten, a senior. “I’ve learned most about religion on my own. I felt our coverage was brief and did lack some depth. But what can you expect if you have to cover all of these religions in one year? I think there should have been more coverage. I feel like our school is supposed to give us a broad-based liberal arts education and to do that we need to cover religion. I know it is a touchy subject, but still.”

History teacher Kristi Morin is more enthusiastic. “Coming from my experience, where I never got any religious education during school, it seems as though you cannot leave ninth grade at Newark Academy without some knowledge of religion; Buddha, Mohammed,” she said. “I think it is a good foundation and I reap the benefit of that when I teach higher-level history classes. In other schools, they don’t have that. I think religion should be taught in schools because it is an essential part of understanding and culture. As a humanities teacher, I think you cannot fully understand people’s culture without religion, and if we are ever able to get across the great barriers we have, we need to be educated about religion.”

I personally enjoy learning religion in an academic manner. I realize religion can be a subject people wish to avoid because of its awkwardness, but learning about religion in a balanced, neutral light is essential.

I used to attend religious school a few days a week. Studies at my temple tended to be one-sided, and while I enjoy learning about my Jewish religion and examining it, I want to view religion more critically.

Emma Stein, 17, attends Newark Academy and is a member of Nu’s teen board.