Mei Harrison

Philosophy 111
Gloria Gerkin
Project Outline
Topic:​ Religion Courses in Schools (Should schools require students to take a religions course?)

Thesis:​ Public schools in the United States should require all students to take a world religions
course.
a. Supporting statements:
i. Science and religion explain reality in different ways
ii. Educational system should expand to incorporate new ideas of thinking around
human behavior with religion courses
iii. Legally, the U.S. can and should teach religions courses
iv. It will increase religious tolerance

Framework:
1. Science and Religion: ​Perspectivalism
a. I chose this framework as it perfectly combines the dualism between the scientific
and religious spheres of the world. Perspectivalism is the method to explain the
relationship between science and religion which says that well-accepted scientific
theories and religion shouldn’t conflict and that the two describe realities in
different ways (Lawhead 391).
2. Students should be taught about other explanations of our world beyond science’s as the
two describe the cause of different realities (perspectivalism) and both should be taught
in schools so as to increase overall understanding of differing beliefs.

Development:
1. Science and religion can interact with one another as they explain reality in
different ways
a. Science = the HOW we got to be where we are today (evolution, development,
etc.)
Religion = the WHY we are here and what our purpose is
2. The educational system in the U.S. covers all of these huge, common core topics that
will further influence life and allow students to understand the world around them
a. In history - study of events that have led to outcomes that influence the future
b. In science - primordial soup, Big Bang Theory, evolution, chemical makeup
c. In social sciences - human behavior is caused by reaction to prior events or
genetic information
 d. In literature - reading about different people, in different times, with different
perspectives but still undergoing similar problems as we are today
e. As the U.S. already teaches these things to explain the world, religion courses
should be added as another way to explain the universe and human behavior.
Especially because religion has played such a crucial role in history, literature,
and current events. It will overall add to a well-rounded education.
3. According to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, U.S. public
schools don’t generally teach comparative religion courses.
a. Legally, they can. → Supreme Court upholds the teaching of religious studies in
American public schools time and time again
i. 1948 ​McCollum v. Board of Education and 1963 ​Abington School District
v. Schempp
ii. Majority of students in the U.S. continue to learn little about religion from
traditional educational outlets, and instead adhere to whatever faith they
were born into out of acculturation and ignorance.
b. European countries -- religious educational courses are taught from secular
perspectives (McAfee)
4. Increasing educatio​n about differing religions will increase religious tolerance
a. Religiously motivated hate crimes are on the rise
i. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Hate Crime Victimization
report, the percentage of hate crimes that were motivated by religious bias
was nearly three times higher in 2012 (28%) than in 2004 (10%). Nearly ⅕
perpetrators were under the age of 18. (Jackson)
b. 9/11 marked a huge point of change in the United States towards the ways we
treat people of differing religious backgrounds
c. If students are taught about other religions, their origins, history, change over
time, and influence today, they will become more understanding of others.

Summary:
1. Public schools in the United States should require all students to take a world religions
course. This is necessary as it is almost self explanatory considering that the secular
teachings of religion allow for a more rounded understanding of differing beliefs and
human behaviors. Overall, including religion courses will increase religious tolerance and
understanding which will improve our society’s well being and safety.
2. Insights:
a. This is an issue that a lot of people are pushing towards in light of the recent
increase in terrorist attacks and the further dividing of people of Christian based
faith and other monotheistic or polytheistic beliefs.
 b. It is kind of hard to use a philosophy of religion framework to work with my topic
as it also is an ethics conversation.
Citations:
1. Jackson, Anthony. “Four Reasons Why You Should Teach About Religion in School.”
Education Week - Global Learning​, 4 Apr. 2016.
2. Lawhead, William F. ​The Philosophical Journey: An Interactive Approach​. 6th ed.,
McGraw-Hill Education, 2014.
3. McAfee, David G. ​Why We Should Teach Religion to Children​. Richard Dawkins
Foundation for Reason and Science, 28 Sept. 2013.