Chapter Eight
Religious
Pluralism in
Secular
Classrooms
Rationale for Attending to
Religion in Public Schools
 Americans have always been concerned with
the role of religion in matters of state.
 Early colonists came to escape religious
persecution; later immigrants have brought a
variety of religious beliefs, rituals, and habits of
mind.
 Much of the cultural capital of the U.S. has
emerged from attempts to answer basically
religious questions.
Continued…
 Connections to religious ideas and
symbols emerges, in part, from a
universal human need for a spiritual
dimension.
 While religion in some societies
permeates the whole culture, in the
United States, the founders were
concerned that religion be separated
from the state in concrete ways:
Con’t…
The Constitutional language of the
First Amendment tries to guarantee
that separation:
“Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of
religion (establishment clause); or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof
(prohibition clause)…”
These two clauses have created a
field on which battles of
interpretation have been fought for
225 years.
Definitions of Religion
 Universal definitions:
“A system of beliefs and practices by
means of which a group of people
struggle with…the ultimate problems of
human life.” (Yinger)
“A unified system of beliefs and practices
relative to sacred things…beliefs and
practices which unite into some single
moral community…” (Durkheim)
Continued…
Sectarian Definitions:
 Define and describe particular religious
denominations in terms of:
Theological point of view
Specific religious practices
Religious experience
Knowledge of scriptures and traditions
Consequences for daily life
Consequences for “falling away” from
the faith
Changes in the U.S. Over
Time
 The degree to which religious belief has been
deemed necessary to public life has altered.
 Technology, especially television, has enabled
people to have knowledge of religion without
actually attending services.
 The increasing interdependence of the world’s
social systems means that one religious system
can have enormous impact on other religious
systems, and, indeed, on daily life around the
world.
Religious Pluralism in the U.S.
 Prior to colonization: a wide variety of
religious beliefs and practices by Native
peoples
The centrality of a Creator
A reverence for the natural world
A belief that human beings were
obligated to preserve and protect the
natural world
Continued…
Religion in the Colonial Era:
Christianity and Judaism
Historically western and European
A belief that human beings were
destined to “rule over” the natural
world
Dominance of different religious sects
in different parts of the Colonies:
Continued…
New England: a Puritan Protestantism
The Middle Colonies: greater
diversity, including Catholic, Quaker,
and Anabaptist—no particular
denomination prevailed
The South: largely modeled on the
Anglican Church of England
Jews were also among the earliest
immigrants, and were spread over the
Colonies.
Continued…
17th through the 19th centuries:
 African nativist religious ideas were
brought to the Colonies by captured
slaves
 Combined with and enriched the
primarily Protestant Christian traditions
After slavery was finally abolished, the
African American churches grew
stronger, and had an immense
influence on the cultural and
educational lives of its members which
continues today
19th and 20th centuries:
 Introduction of Islam to the U.S.
 The Muslim faith is currently one of the
fastest growing religious in the U.S.
Membership is in part African
American, e.g., the Nation of Islam
Members are also immigrants from
Middle Eastern countries, e.g.,
Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, from
both north and sub-Saharan Africa,
and from Malaysia.
Characteristics of a Classroom
that Attends to Religious
Pluralism
 Pedagogies: Old and New
Teachers should know the backgrounds of
their students and their students’ families.
Teachers should know something about the
worldview of particular religions represented
in their classes.
Teachers should adapt instruction as
required to give all students the chance to
learn effectively and to practice learning in
different ways.
Continued…
Roles: Old and New
 Because of potential conflict, teachers
need to assume a role as interpreter
and sometimes as mediator.
 School rules and customs such as
dress codes may have to be amended
for those from different religious
backgrounds.
 The school calendar may also have to
take a variety of religious holidays into
account.
Continued…
Place of Content Knowledge: Old and New
 While school people have tried to cope
with religious controversy by trying to
avoid it, religious history, as well as
religious architecture, art, music, and
ideas can become the basis for an
enriched and affirming classroom.
 Remember that the Supreme Court has
not, in any of its decisions on the
subject, prohibited discussions about
religion in schools.
Continued…
From the decision by Justice Clark:
…it 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. It certainly
may be said that the Bible is worthy of
study for its literary and historic qualities.
Nothing we have said here indicates that
such study of the Bible or of religion, when
presented objectively as part of a secular
program of education, may not be effected
consistent with the First Amendment.
--Abington v. Schempp (1963)
Examples of religious content:
 Dietary regulations in heath or home
economics classes
 Islamic geometrical designs in math
classes
 Major works of art depicting religious
themes in art classes
 Religious music in music classes
 Studies of comparative religion in
history or social studies classes
Assessment: Old and New
Use sensitivity when creating exam
questions on subjects related to
religion, e.g., on evolution.
Use sensitivity when deciding upon
the use of psychological testing (some
families believe these tests are a
corruption of family values).
Use sensitivity when deciding about
the use of various health screening
techniques, especially invasive ones.
Perspectives on Religion and
Schooling in the United States
Constitutional language in the First and
Fourteenth Amendments has been both the
source of religious freedom and the source of
educational battles.
 Sources of tension include:
The need for schools, as an arm of the state, to
support a basic freedom guaranteed by the
Constitution
The need for schools, also as an arm of the
state, to uphold the separation of church and
state
Two Broad Categories of
Debate (R.Freeman Butts)
 Education’s role in protecting private
freedoms:
Those that inhere in the individual and
therefore may not be invaded or
denied by the state
Education’s role in guaranteeing public
freedoms:
Those that inhere in the welfare of the
democratic political community
Private Freedoms and Some
Relevant Court Cases
Education has a role to play in
protecting private freedoms, or “those
that inhere in the individual, and
therefore may not be invaded or
denied by the state.” Among these are
compulsory attendance and the
individual practice of religious beliefs in
classrooms, including prayer.
Continued…
Compulsory Attendance
Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925):
children must go to school, but private
religious schools satisfy that
requirement
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972): the socalled “Amish exception”; Old Order
Amish can disobey Wisconsin’s
compulsory schooling law and
withdraw their children after the eighth
grade
 The practice of religious beliefs in
classrooms
Meyer v. Nebraska (1923): the right of
parents to guide their children’s
education is affirmed
West Virginia State Board of Education
v. Barnett (1943): no one can be
forced to salute the flag or say the
Pledge of Allegiance if it violates
individual conscience
Continued…
 School prayer
Abington v. Schempp (1963): requiring
student participation in sectarian
prayers and reading from the Bible,
particularly the New Testament, is
unconstitutional
Lee v. Weisman (1992): sectarian
prayers at high school graduations are
unconstitutional
Santa Fe Independent School District
v. Doe (2000): sectarian prayers at
high school football games are
unconstitutional
Public Freedoms and Some
Relevant Court Cases
Education also has a role to play in
protecting public freedoms, such as the
need of the nation for an educated
citizenry and the need of the society for
the socialization of its children in moral
and ethical behavior. Issues raised here
include public funding for private
religious schools and the provision of
religious instruction.
Continued…
Public funding for religious schools
Cochran v. Louisiana Board of Education
(1930): use of public funds to purchase
textbooks for private schools is
constitutional
Everson v. Board of Education (1947): use
of public funds to bus students to religious
schools is constitutional
The National Defense Education Act
(1958) and the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (1965) provided
funds for some aspects of private religious
schooling.
Continued…
The provision of religious instruction
McCollum v. Board of Education
(1948): religious instruction in public
schools is unconstitutional
Zorach v. Clausen (1952): religious
instruction during school hours is
constitutional if it takes place off school
grounds
Other Important Court
Decisions
 Epperson v. State of Arkansas (1968):
statutes criminalizing the teaching of
evolution are unconstitutional
 Lemon v. Kurzman (1971): Court outlines
a three-pronged test for deciding whether
any state statute violates the
establishment clause of the First
Amendment:
Continued…
Lemon’s “three-pronged” test
Does the challenged practice or
policy have a secular purpose?
Does it have the effect of neither
advancing nor inhibiting religious
practices?
Does the practice or policy avoid an
excessive entanglement between
government and religion?
Perspectives on Religious
Identity
 Religious identity has its roots in the
family.
 It is perhaps the most common, and also
perhaps the strongest, source of identity.
 Religious identity places an individual in a
particular relationship with a deity.
The Influence of the “Religious
Right”
 While the so-called “religious right” is a
contemporary conservative political
movement of Protestant Christians, it is
not the only conservative religious
movement.
 Fundamentalist movements are prevalent
in all major religions around the world.
Continued…
Particular educational interests of
fundamentalist movements:
 Prayer in schools
 Curriculum content
 Teaching of morality and “character”
 Funding for private and parochial
schools
 Censorship of books available to or
required of students
Ethical Issues
 Responsibility of teachers to be aware of
and understand the religious background of
their students
 Responsibility of teachers to know the law
with respect to religious issues
 Responsibility of teachers to be sensitive to
students’ religious beliefs with respect to
curriculum content, religious dress, religious
holidays, and methods of instruction
Something to Think About
The principle of separation of church
and state has not prevented many
people from believing that schools
should be a repository of morality; the
question has always been, “Whose
morality are we talking about?”