Guide Tells How to Teach About Religion in Schools

A pamphlet that lays out constitutional ways to teach about religion in public schools was released Tuesday by 14 religious and educational groups that have at times been on opposite sides of church-state questions.

The organizations, from the research arm of Americans United For Separation of Church and State to the religiously conservative National Assn. of Evangelicals, expressed hope that the pamphlet will embolden teachers and principals to give religion its due in history, literature and other classes.

‘Nobler, Better Way’

James Dunn of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs said at a news conference that the document has “historic significance” because it shows “there is a nobler and better way to deal with religion in public schools than simply to yell at each other and threaten a lawsuit.”

The yearlong project received impetus from an unusual consensus in which conservative religious groups and liberal bodies such as People for the American Way agreed that in recent years many textbooks have avoided religious subjects in literature and historical events in which religion played a prominent part.

Some critics blamed publishers’ fear of controversy, and others attributed the response to an overreaction by educators to U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the 1960s that barred state-sponsored school prayer and Bible reading.

The pamphlet, called “Religion in the Public School Curriculum: Questions and Answers,” noted that the Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional a Louisiana law that required schools to teach the biblical account of creation in science classes. But the pamphlet said: “Though science instruction may not endorse or promote religious doctrine, the account of creation found in various scriptures may be discussed in a religious studies class or in any course that considers religious explanations for the origin of life.”

Suits Academic Appoach

The pamphlet advises that religion is a proper subject when the school’s approach is academic, not devotional and not intended to inculcate any beliefs.

Other sponsors include the National School Boards Assn., the American Assn. of School Administrators, the Christian Legal Society, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the National Council of Churches, the National Council for the Social Studies, the Assn. for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Assn.