Connections Quarterly Winter 2018 - World Religions | Page 6
T E ACHING ABO U T RE LIGIO NS AS D I VER S I T Y ED UC AT I O N
Continued from page 3
courses for students? As a baseline, world
religions courses help students gain basic
knowledge about the history, texts, beliefs,
practices, and material manifestations of
the world’s largest religions. This is impor-
tant given that most Americans are woe-
fully uninformed about the world’s great re-
ligious traditions. In 2010, the Pew Research
Forum conducted an extensive study of
knowledge about religions in the U.S. and
the findings were disappointing. Less than
half of Americans know that the Dalai Lama
is Buddhist, the Jewish Sabbath begins on
“
Because religion has
played such a significant
role in history, and it
continues to shape cul-
ture and politics in pow-
erful ways, omission of
religion in the curriculum
gives students the false
impression that religion
is somehow insignificant
and unimportant for
understanding the world
around them.
Friday, and the four canonical gospels are
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Fewer than
four-in-ten (38%) correctly associate Vishnu
and Shiva with Hinduism, and only about
one-quarter of Americans are aware that
most people in Indonesia, the country with
the world’s largest Muslim population, are
Muslim. 3 In a Supreme Court case which
prohibited state-sponsored school prayer
and Bible readings in public schools, Associ-
ate Justice Tom Clark wrote: “[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.” 4 Because
religion has played such a significant role
in history, and it continues to shape culture
and politics in powerful ways, omission of
religion in the curriculum gives students
the false impression that religion is some-
how insignificant and unimportant for un-
derstanding the world around them.
Reducing Bias and Making Good
Ethical Decisions
”
Teaching about religion is not merely about
gaining knowledge. It is also about help-
ing students make good ethical decisions.
In 1984, the National Council for the Social
Studies stated: “Knowledge about religions
is not only a characteristic of an educated
person but is absolutely necessary for under-
3. Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey. [Washington, D.C.]: Pew Forum on Religion &
Public Life, 2010.
4. Abington Township v. Schempp 374 U.S. 203 (1963).
Page 4 Winter 2018
CSEE Connections