Recent laws pushing mostly Christian principles into public school classrooms in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas are producing a range of emotions and varying degrees of concern. While I understand the dismay, the situation actually offers an incredible opportunity. Religious literacy usually sits on the back burner of American consciousness, but many individuals and organizations have contemplated this issue for decades. Offering nondevotional, constitutionally appropriate content about the world’s religions to kids of all ages is not only possible, it’s also completely consistent with the instructional standards of every state in the union.
Our constitutional democracy cries out for a citizenry that is religiously tolerant and religiously literate. Recent legal maneuvers are clear attempts to impede those goals while also consolidating Christian nationalist ambitions. In Louisiana, every public school classroom will soon be required to display the Ten Commandments. In Oklahoma, the state superintendent is trying to require all classrooms to have a Bible and all educators to teach from it. In Texas, the commissioner of education is unveiling a new K-5 Language Arts program with numerous lessons centered on the Bible and almost no mention of other religious or nonreligious traditions. Cue the consternation and legal wrangling.
Don’t get me wrong. I support First Amendment-based legal efforts. But thwarting these persistent attempts to push Christianity into public schools is like piling sandbags in a flood-prone area — essential, but not exactly progress. We already know this land was not Christian when European colonizers arrived; that many Founding Fathers were deists, not traditional Christians; and that many who immigrated or were enslaved were not Christian either. So how can we really live into our diversity and guarantees of religious freedom?
One approach is incorporating nondevotional, religion-related content in K-8 classrooms. That means teaching kids about religion in an unbiased, academic, we-are-not-trying-to-convert-you kind of way. Not sure that’s possible? The American Academy of Religion, National Council of Social Studies and First Amendment Center all think it is and offer frameworks for doing just that. Moreover, state instructional standards in social studies, language arts and SEL (socioemotional learning) allow for religiously themed content — even for kids as young as kindergarten.
Think religions are complex, abstract and potentially divisive? You are correct. Which is exactly why we need classroom-based learning. Religiously motivated violence is on the rise, Americans are increasingly concerned about antisemitism and Islamophobia and both Hindu and Sikh students are frequent targets of bullying. In fact, the Justice Department recommended religious literacy education almost a decade ago to combat religious discrimination. We spent decades avoiding the topic of race with students only to realize that obliviousness was not a remedy. We risk making the same mistake with religion. Moreover, religion is an important aspect of identity for many schoolchildren, and children need to be seen — not despite those identities but because of them.
Given the thousands of religious traditions around the world, not to mention varying beliefs and practices within those traditions, where might we begin? I suggest starting with:
- A basic understanding of how the world’s major religions address human problems: our capacity for greed and anger, our yearning for kindness and compassion, our quest for peace.
- A basic vocabulary around holy days, religious clothing and foods that unite faith-based communities.
- An appreciation for sacred spaces that reflect religious practice and the foundational texts underlying religious belief.
Educators can’t teach it all, but they can provide a foundation for future exploration — which is what we do for every other topic taught in schools. World religions can be woven into lessons about geography, culture, migration, literacy, architecture, civil rights, communal problem-solving, colonization/empire-building, writing, art, music and identity formation. And educators have more options than ever before for doing just that. Published children’s books, free lesson plans for various grade levels and United Nations days centered on peace, friendship, tolerance and cultural diversity are all potential starting points.
Multifaith households and encounters with people of a different faith or no faith are on the rise and part of the national political discourse. We need to prepare the next generation to work well with people of diverse perspectives. Is there a perfect solution? Probably not. Is there a way to start? Absolutely.
Vicki Garlock is the founder of World Religions for Kids.