Religious Literacy Prothero Chapter Summaries

In schools, the place where Americans first learned critical fundamentals and values of freedom, religion is separated from home life to school life. In the United States, 89% of public school teacher’s cannot lead a class in prayer, 36% can teach a class comparing religions in different countries, and only 23% can read from the Bible for examples of literature (citation). Without religious instruction in schools, students are not granted with the option to display their faith and practice their religion in a school setting. Despite the advantages, some Americans argue that teaching religion in public schools can be dangerous and harmful to students. Schools disapproving of students practicing

Of the fairly limited amount of books I have read in my lifetime regarding the origins of the country we live in today from a religious standpoint, the vast majority are rife with one scarcely mentioned and not infrequent pitfall of inaccuracy that glares at me as I flip through their pages: they sugarcoat the difficult parts. Any controversy that may mitigate their argument (such as the gruesome altercations between the early colonists and the Native Americans, Benjamin Franklin’s or Thomas Jefferson’s religious stances, or the Americans’ horribly violent recalcitrance against the nation they then considered home) is deceptively changed or mollified in attempt to please readers, or perhaps even more embarrassingly, omitted out of sheer ignorance on the subject. With The Light and the Glory, preacher Peter Marshall and New York publishing house editor David Manuel defy the stereotypes of American Christian authors and unapologetically disregard potential vitriol from their intended audience in the process. After conducting extensive research on the topics they planned to discuss in their book, Marshall and Manuel devised the following thesis for The Light and the Glory: (a) God has, or at least had, a definitive and demanding plan for America, and (b) our continual deviation from this plan is why modern America is so seemingly headed for

Issues involving public schools and religion have been topics involving intense debate. It is difficult for the government to elucidate the appropriate boundaries of religion in the public schools. It is true that teaching about religion is permitted in the public education systems, but the real question is where the margin should be set between teaching religion and simply teaching about religion. It is almost impossible to teach about the history of the United States without teaching that religious beliefs associated with the history, artwork, and literature. More than the public is lead to believe, The Constitution permits religious activities in and around public school buildings. It is unfortunate that the

In the documentary A New Eden: God in America, the class was given the opportunity to explore America’s chase to religious freedom and the political challenges it took to achieve such and opportunity where people for the first time were given a chance to seek religious faith that was not imposed upon them, but one that they can personally choose to live for themselves. The problem that would come about during the arrival Catholic immigrants’ as it was thought to believe their arrival would come to oppose the very religious they worked so hard for, while from their perspective they were merely trying to live an average life in America with all it has to offer just like everyone has. The challenge was most expressed in a judicial case of public

Education plus God equals success. While this statement is true, the job of incorporating the truth about God into everything taught is becoming increasingly more difficult. Schultz charted public education’s view of reality, truth and value throughout the history of the United States to show how an unbiblical worldview has increasingly taken hold of society, the educational system and

Sitting in a classroom filled with several maps of the world, vast spines of colorful books, and watching the clock hit the next hour, there is nothing more that a seven-year-old would rather do than be stuck sitting in a desk for eight hours of the day. Looking back to when I was young and learning about the history and background of the church, I was illiterate. According to Bud Heckman’s definition, “religious literacy is the understanding of the profound role that religions plays in human social, cultural, and political life in both contemporary and historical contexts” (2).  Learning about religion seemed

Teaching prayer in schools has been a controversial topic since Abington Township School District v. Schempp (1963) that removed prayer from the classroom. However, a Bible-literacy course at New Braunfels High School (NBHS) in Texas exemplifies the successful teaching of the religion without imposing it on the students. This is an ideal that would satisfy both conservative Christians and secular liberals. The consensus that David Van Biema comes to in his article “The Case for Teaching the Bible” is that schools should teach the Bible from a neutral perspective that allows students to understand the concepts behind the text’s arguments while observing and forming their own beliefs and opinions.

Christianity has a history of being laced with education in the United States. From colonization of the United States with Christian textbooks, to laws written to maintain Christianity in schools, and to now with Supreme Court cases banning Christianity from schools; it has always been a persistent force in America's education. The foundation of the entanglement of religion and education began with the creation of the nation’s first universities. After that, laws were mandated to maintain the religious mix, like the Northwest Ordinance. Significantly, the New England Primer and the McGuffey Readers were the basis of all basic education, as the religious contents influenced multitudes of American generations. Supreme Court cases have proven

he question of religious involvement in public education has been a controversial topic since before America was a country. Thomas Paine, one of our founding fathers, expressed, “As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of the government to protect all conscientious protesters thereof, and I know of no other business government has to do therewith,” (“20 Quotes”). While the separation of church and state was a necessity made clear by Thomas Jefferson in the first amendment of the Constitution, the question differentiating freedom of religion and freedom from religion remains intangible. The public university of Arkansas State confronted this debate in September of 2014 after the death of two of its esteemed football team associates.

To counteract the changes that America is experiencing, as the framers of the constitution foresaw, certain laws such as the first amendment are able to be applied differently in special situations like towards the public school system. Banning religion in public schools is such an important issue, because the school curriculum is unable to accommodate every child’s religious needs or offer the same amount of coverage to each religion represented in America. If parents feel as though the instruction of religion is such a pivotal aspect that should be in their child’s life then perhaps a private school that is tailormade to teach and interpret religious aspects would be better suitable. The principle of religious neutrality forbids schools to give religious objectors a substitute that is, from a secular perspective, superior to what other children get. The material instructed in public schools should enable “the minds of school children to be open to various possibilities [in which allowing] that both creationism and evolution be introduced, without religious applications” (Phy-Olsen 98). Modifying the school curriculum for any such child or group creates not only isolation but also negatively emphasizes the differences between students. Students are unable to achieve their full potential with religion in schools, because they will be lacking the sense of

B. Author Linda K. Wertheimer writes in the Washington Post, “the takeaway isn’t that there’s a danger our schools will veer toward religious indoctrination. It’s that schools should do more to give religion a firm place in the curriculum, beginning as early as the elementary grades. That way, kids will be prepared, as they grow, to evaluate what they see every night on cable TV based on real information, rather than a set of stereotypes.”

Many adults become familiar only with their personal religious practices; as a result children lack the exposure and knowledge of other’s people’s faith. There are no guidelines on how to introduce or teach children about other religions, traditions or philosophies. Books can be a valuable tool to share these diverse values and avoid future misconceptions often held towards those whose beliefs are different. Books that are age appropriate for specific children about religion can open the way to more dialogue and respect for others different then our own.

Religion, for thousands of years, has dulled man-kind’s senses to see the lovely light of logic. It has, in point of fact, been the pinnacle of many wars, and caused many a bloodshed; it has seized our minds and, as a master puppeteer, pulled the strings of fate. Yet the question remains, and a grand question it is: in America,which subjects and/or events should the influence of religion cease its reign? The opaque answer, still wet with Heraclitus-like metaphysics, had never been so clear as J.L. Freeman stood before a jury and said thus unto it: “-and if this be the case, then all Seraphs be damned to Hell!” Yet, to be clear, this story does in fact have an origin, hidden, of course, by the primitive man with his puzzling, primitive philosophy!

Religion in public academic institutions and the materials they utilize has been an extremely controversial topic for years. In Nick Anderson’s political cartoon, he is portraying that Texas’ textbook review committee “made some changes” in the curriculum, and incorporated religion into a science textbook. It is no secret or surprise that Texas is a very conservative state -- In 2013, there was an ongoing debate and evaluation by the committee on whether to include creationism in the curriculum or to only include facts proven by science. Subsequently the “creationist” of Texas have waged a war on those who don’t want religion or political stances incorporated in the children’s curriculum. Kathy Miller, President of the Texas Freedom Network

Faith is at risk when the action associated with a belief system is motivated not by a conscious, dynamic morality but by a desire for social acceptance. Stephen encounters similar cultural policing when, while still in grade school, his English teacher announces to the entire class that “this fellow has heresy in his essay” (Joyce 69). The dramatic public criticism of a syntactic trifle that does not exactly align with Catholic doctrine serves as a humiliating reinforcement of religiously derived social standards and punishes Stephen for both original thought and individuality. The rigid religion that saturates Stephen’s surroundings conditions him to worship, to believe, and to belong without question or concern.