Progress doesn't always follow a straight line. Take the case of religion and public schools. When I was young, public education still reflected this country's largely Christian and Protestant origins. Most kids, no matter what their faith -- or lack of it -- started the day listening to a passage from the King James Bible and saying the Lord's Prayer. And this was hard for many of us.
But when the U.S. Supreme Court abolished state mandated prayer and devotional use of the Bible in public schools, things went to the other extreme -- teaching about religion became an even bigger taboo than teaching sex. And this happens even though the Supreme Court was careful to distinguish between teaching religion in public schools and teaching about religion. In fact, by the 1980s, religion had disappeared so completely from the public schools that one popular text series for children in elementary school identified the Pilgrims as "people who made long trips" -- 17th-century tourists, perhaps -- and Christmas as a "warm time for special foods."
It's not hard to see how this happened. People in schools worried about the line between acknowledging the role of religion in American society and history and appearing to favor a particular faith. Would yearly concerts of Christian religious music cross the boundary into favoring Christianity? Could a teacher speak about the importance of Christian values in Martin Luther King's life and work without being accused of promoting the Christian religion? Did mentioning one religion -- or religious holiday -- mean you needed to give equal time to others? (And if so, which others?)
But as the description of the Pilgrims suggests, "When in doubt, leave it out" isn't a responsible, or a practical, answer. If students don't know anything about the religions that helped shape our cultural heritage, they'll have a very limited appreciation of that heritage. And if they're ignorant about the religions practiced in our multicultural society, it will be difficult for them to understand -- or live harmoniously with - the people who practice them. Most important, if students don't get a chance to discuss religion in their American history classes, they won't learn about our unique tradition of religious freedom or how and why the separation of church and state was established and maintained -- and they won't find out about the role they must play in carrying on these essential features in our democracy.
Fortunately, people of all political and religious persuasions now agree that it's important to introduce teaching about religion into the curriculum. That doesn't mean that it will be easy to avoid the pitfalls, but materials that should help are appearing. For example, Religious Freedom in America: A Teacher's Guide by Charles C. Haynes (Silver Spring, Md.: Americans United Research Foundations, 1986) includes articles about the tradition of religious freedom in this country and about Supreme Court decisions on the subject, as well as a list of resources. And this fall, a curriculum series called Living With Our Deepest Differences: Religious Liberty in a Pluralistic Society, which was developed and pilot-tested for upper elementary school, junior high and high school by the Williamsburg Foundation, is scheduled to come out.
Religion in American History: What to Teach and How by Charles C. Haynes (Alexandria Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1990) is particularly useful because it suggests ways of integrating religious issues and questions into a standard American history course. Besides listing and providing bibliography for 29 religious influences in American history, Haynes offers 9 original documents that illustrate important religious issues, and he provides excellent supporting materials for each.
The documents show our country at its unique best -- and at its worst. And they raise the issue that we are still dealing with and will as long as our country exists. George Washington's moving letter to the Jewish congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, which lays out the distinction between religious toleration and religious freedom, ought to make students feel proud and humble; it's a remarkable tradition they have to live up to and continue. On the other hand, an 183 7 petition to Congress arguing for curtailment of the rights of Catholics reveals a darker side of our heritage. But it doesn't encourage an attitude of comfortable superiority: Some of the arguments it advances were still current when John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960 -- and they'd play well in a number of circles today. So students will have to grapple with the problems the petition presents instead of just dismissing them.
The best protection religious freedom can have now and in the future is for all of us to understand the challenges it has faced in the past. Teaching about religion in the public schools, and particularly in American history classes, is belated but welcome; it will help protect this uniquely American -- and uniquely precious -- freedom.