I was browsing through the American Academy of Religion’s guidelines for how to teach religion in K12 public schools and thought the FAQ section was pretty interesting as a window into how the institutional mind addresses questions about religious belief and practice.
Below are the verbatim questions and my brief paraphrased answers.
The full curriculum guidelines are available here as a PDF.
Why do people still believe in religion?
Science has not made religion obsolete, because religion addresses fundamental questions about ethics and society.
Are religion and science incompatible?
Mostly no, although there are exceptions such as the tension between a subset of Christians and how natural evolution is taught.
Can creation science or intelligent design be taught in schools?
Yes, but not in science classes, and preferably alongside “a diversity of worldviews.”
Does the Bible say that homosexuality is wrong?
Some would say yes. Others would say no.
Do Jews believe in heaven?
Most Jews believe humans have a soul which survives the physical body. Also, “heaven” is mostly a Christian concept.
Did the Jews kill Jesus?
It’s complicated, but Romans and non-Jews were also involved in his death.
Is the Buddha a god?
What do you mean by the word “god”?
Do you have to follow all the rules of a religion to be religious?
Some might say yes. Others would say no.
Is God real?
It’s not a teacher’s place to say.
Is Islam a violent religion?
Blame the media.
I’m Hindu (or Muslim, Christian, Buddhist) and my religion is really different from the Hinduism (or Islam, Christianity, Buddhism) we are studying. Why?
Religion is complicated.
Why do we need to study religion anyway? We’re in school, not church!
“It is impossible to understand human history and culture without understanding its religious dimensions”
For more of my writings on religion and spirituality, here’s a post on why religion is actually growing across the world, and here are some useful definitions of religion.