Why Religion Should Be Taught in Public Schools

I support the separation of church and state and feel that religious doctrine has no place in our government, in our general community programs or in corporate environments. A secular society is the only way to support all citizens' rights to practice the religion of their choice. However, given the prevalence of religion in our current society, I do think religion has a place in the public school system--specifically as part of the social studies curriculum.

Religion, or religious freedom, is a major element of American society. For many, religion is a significant part of their cultural identity. Religion plays a part in all levels of politics and is often an aspect of community events and organizations. Everyday, we all interact with people who have different religious backgrounds and personal beliefs.

Children born into religious families are indoctrinated from birth and this affects the way they will see the world for the rest of their lives. Even those who later explore other faiths, convert to other religions or emerge as nonbelievers will be affected in subtle ways by their family religion. We are a product of our upbringing, no matter how our later life experiences may change us.

By excluding any talk of religion from public school systems, we do our children a disservice. Instead of educating our children about the diverse backgrounds of American citizens, we teach them to keep religion to themselves and only be exposed to religious ideas at home. The problem with this approach is that most children only learn about their own family religion and may not even realize that other people do not share their beliefs.

Perhaps a better approach is to bring religion into the public school curriculum as a part of the social studies program. If all major religious beliefs--and the lack of belief--are given equal weight and discussed objectively, we may go a long way toward creating a society where religious differences are respected.

The problems with bringing religion into public schools arise when religious followers attempt to insert religion where it doesn't belong. It makes sense for religious discussion to show up in social studies or history courses. Yet religion does not belong in math, science, health or physical education programs.

There are some gray areas, which may be better left to a secular curriculum, though an argument can be made either way. For example, religion has had a profound impact on art, music and literature. Yet introducing religious topics in these subjects would have to carefully balance elements of many different religions to avoid showing favor to any one belief system.

In my children's public school system, religion becomes a more prominent part of the history curriculum beginning with ninth grade. Religion is discussed as part of cultural identity and in the context of how it has shaped both local and world history. The high school also offers a comparative religion course as an elective.

All of this helps students see that there are other belief systems, yet by this age many kids have only experienced their own family religion and have a difficult time understanding how others could believe anything else. By introducing comparative religion elements at a younger age, we may have an easier time promoting respect for a variety of faiths and for those who do not believe in a supernatural god.