The Fourth ‘R’

In a country where almost everyone believes in God (96% of us, according to recent Gallup Polls), religious education in public schools is all but ignored. To protect students’ religious freedom, the argument goes, religion should not be discussed at all.

Religious studies courses are rare in California’s 860 public high schools, perhaps because the rules concerning what and how to teach such courses are regularly misread. The Supreme Court outlaws guided prayer on campus during school hours and forbids promoting any religious faith.

For fear of crossing the line, most public schools tend to avoid the subject. But there are exceptions. In search of another option, two local high schools are taking the lead. They don’t teach religion, they teach about religion.

Teachers James Antenore of Irvine High School and Jim Maechling of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School found another way. Long ago they each developed comparative religion courses that explore a wide range of faiths without recommending one in particular.

Antenore has been refining his syllabus for 17 years, Maechling for 25. Suddenly, they find themselves in a growing field of interest. While few public schools offer religion as a separate subject, many in California are expanding their world history curricula to include religion. And now, new textbooks are accommodating the change. There is also a growing number of workshops and study guides that prepare teachers for the subject.

“The average teacher is nervous about tackling religion at all,” said Charles Haynes, who is coordinating a conference this month in Nashville for educators interested in teaching about religion. “They want to know, ‘What do I say? What can I say?’ The goal is to help them teach objectively.”

Haynes is a senior scholar with the Arlington, Va.-based Freedom Forum, an education center focused on 1st Amendment (freedom of speech) issues.

At Irvine High, Antenore structures his class with a traditional format. He concentrates on the largest Asian and Western religions, primarily Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. He fits others, such as Taoism and secular humanism, around his main themes. Field trips to local religious centers and guest speakers from different faiths fill out the program.

Maechling teaches the major religions as well. From there, he expands toward the non-mainstream, covering New Age religions in his last lecture. Students broaden the scope with class presentations on the subject of their choice. Recent topics explored the Amish, yoga, the Bahais, wiccans and even apocalyptic cults.

At times both teachers have heard from concerned parents. One of the first times he taught the course, Antenore had a Christian student who wanted to compare each religion’s teachings with those in the Bible, rather than view each tradition on its own. The student’s father paid a visit, wanting to be sure his daughter’s beliefs were respected. His conversation with Antenore reassured him, and the girl completed the course. In general, Antenore said, students, parents and school administrators are very supportive. The class is always filled, and there is usually a waiting list.

Maechling also remembers an exchange with a concerned parent during one of the first times he taught his course. It was after a class session in which he demonstrated Rajah yoga meditation.

“The principal came in and said, ‘You lit up the switchboard.’ A lot of parents called,” Maechling recalled.

After that, he began to send parents a letter explaining what goes on in his class. Students have the choice of taking part or simply observing the demonstrations.

In Class, Prejudices Surprise Students

For all the pitfalls that educators and parents worry over and want to avoid, the students themselves are a strong indicator of whether it is possible to teach objectively about religion. A group of students who took Antenore’s course last year met with him recently to talk about the class, an elective course for juniors and seniors.

Several said they enrolled out of curiosity. One Christian student wanted to know more about the faith of her Muslim friend. An atheist wondered what it is, exactly, that religious people believe.

All the students, who are seniors, said they were surprised to discover their own prejudices.

“I thought Hindus spent the whole time praying in the temple,” said Becky Law, who was raised Roman Catholic.

“I assumed they believed in one God,” said Julie Fliegler, who is Jewish. She learned that Hindus worship many, and Buddhists worship none.

“I thought Judaism was not a complete religion,” Diane Croner recalled. She refers to herself as a Protestant and formed her idea about Judaism by reading the Christian Bible, which contains the Old and New Testament, while the Hebrew Bible contains the first one but not the second.

A Muslim student, Mana Aynechi, hinted at how prejudice against Muslims in the United States has affected her.

“The stereotypes we have against every religion came out in class,” she said. “Being Muslim doesn’t mean you’re a terrorist. It’s easier for me, now, to tell people I’m Muslim.”

“The class dispelled a lot of stereotypes, not only about Islam,” Law agreed.

No one went through a religious conversion, although one student raised by Jewish and Catholic parents said he now considers himself a Taoist. Several students said they came to understand their own religion better. Muslim-raised Aynechi said her relationships with other people improved.

“I wanted to learn about Christianity because I am surrounded by it and didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “At least now I have a basis for asking questions.”

Most of the group noticed similarities between faiths, particularly among Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Many said they felt more comfortable now with religious customs they never used to understand. And they learned to respect the religions they studied.

“I found myself appreciating where we live and this high school,” Law said.

Irvine High has one of the most culturally diverse student bodies in the state. Ethnicities from throughout Asia account for 30% of the student body. They are the second-largest ethnic group after Caucasians. Latinos, African Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans add to the mix.

“To realize that we can get along and make it work, and appreciate our differences, impressed me,” Law added.

At Palos Verdes High, during a class presentation on sacred music, senior Christy Julin played recordings of African drum music, a Jewish klezmer band, Native Australian music and Gregorian chant, among other examples.

“Is this their whole religion?” one student asked of the Tibetan monks’ chant.

“It’s a form of prayer,” Maechling answered.

Other questions also indicated that Julin’s audience wanted to learn more about customs and traditions, not theology.

“The students get a new basis for comparison and start leaning toward religious tolerance,” Maechling said. “All the great religions of the world contain the distilled wisdom of the human race. We start to see that.”

Changing Population Enriches Class

He has observed the student body as it changed dramatically in recent years, which has benefited his class.

“When I started here, Palos Verdes was a lily-white community,” Maechling said. “Now there are 38 languages spoken by the students. If I want to have a discussion about Hindus, for example, I can turn to the students and ask, ‘What do Hindus believe?’ ”

Like Antenore in Irvine, Maechling sets the ground rules for religious tolerance at the start of each semester.

“I spend the first week making everybody feel that it is safe to talk about what they believe,” he said. He does this by alerting them to some typical stereotypes. “I point out, for example, not everybody who practices one religion is the same. There are Muslims in Bosnia, Malaysia, Iraq, Russia. Could they possibly all be the same?”

Antenore maintains democratic class discussions by reminding students to approach a subject with an open mind, not a fixed attitude. How can they tell the difference?

“Ask yourself, ‘Am I asking questions or making statements?’ ” he reminds them.

The urge among top educators to help answer students’ questions about all the religions of the world continues to grow. This year, professors Harry Stout and John Butler of Yale University are working as general editors on a 17-volume series, “Religion in American Life,” by Oxford University Press. The books are geared to high school students and cover the major religions of the world as well as special themes, such as Native American and African American religious traditions. The approach is strictly historical. Buyers have included school libraries and social studies departments.

The Freedom Forum produced a companion guide that sets the parameters for teaching religion in public schools according to 1st Amendment standards. At a recent convention for social studies teachers, Oxford Press offered free copies of the guide. All 300 were snapped up.

When Julie Fliegler explained how Antenore’s class affected her, the sensitive work of reintroducing religious studies into public education begins to seem worth the effort for its effect on students’ daily life.

Fliegler was impressed by the way different religions celebrate life’s small and great moments. A good harvest, a good meal, the new moon, a week’s end are considered sacred, as much as the grand historic events that shape the various faiths.

“We forget to enjoy things, to take joy in what we are doing right now,” Fliegler said. “Seeing how different religions do that has changed me as a person.”