Multicultural Education for Religious Tolerance

Religious Diversity

In a written amicus brief, Acting Assistant Attorney General Bradley Schlozman argued in favor of a mother and son who were being threatened with legal and academic sanctions if they continued to attend religious observances during the school year (Scheidt v. Tri-Creek School Corp., 2005). The position of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice was that Tri-Creek School's restriction allowing only one excused absence for a religious observance per school year violated the Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, respectively, because it interfered with the mother's ability to confer a religious education to her son. In doing so, Tri-Creek was discriminating against the son and her mother due to their religious beliefs by threatening expulsion from school if the son continued to be absent during school for religious reasons. Tri-Creek tried to argue that the policy applied equally to all children and was therefore immune to judicial scrutiny, but the Assistant Attorney General pointed out that multiple excused absences were permitted for non-religious reasons. There was thus a bias against any religion requiring more than one absence per school year outside of the Christian Holiday schedule (e.g., Christmas).

The amicus brief by Schlozman laid out the government's interest in ensuring the free exercise of religion (Scheidt v. Tri-Creek School Corp., 2005). The solution proposed was to allow students who miss school days due to religious obligations to make up work missed, thereby meeting the academic obligations required by the state. In addition to the Constitutional arguments supporting the free practice of religion, the health benefits of adhering to a religious or spiritual practice cannot be understated. A large body of empirical evidence has accumulated over a period of decades which reveal a faith-based lifestyle or belief system is protective against a number of physical and mental ailments (reviewed by van Olphen et al., 2003). For example, van Olphen and colleagues (2003) revealed prayer reduced the risk of depression and African-American women struggling with asthma and arthritis cope better when they engage in religious activities. Social support networks available through churches were also protective against threats to health. Criminality among adolescents appears to be reduced by religious practices as well, except for substance abuse (Benda & Corwyn, 2014). Religion can therefore play a positive role in the lives of students and society as a whole.

As Tri-Creek discovered, public school systems must adopt policies tolerant to the free expression of religious identity and consistent with academic success. The difficulty of striking a balance between these sometimes conflicting goals is revealed when the Holy Day calendar for the main world religions are examined.

Table.

Holy Days for the 2014-2015 School Year (adapted from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, 2013; Southern Methodist University, 2014).

Religion

Holy Day

Date(s)

Jewish

Rosh Hashanah

Thursday and Friday, September 25 and 26

Jewish

Sukkot

Thursday and Friday, October 9 and 10

Jewish

Sukkot

Monday-Wednesday, October 13-15

Jewish

Sheminin Atzeret/Simchat Torah

Thursday and Friday, October 16 and 17

Hindu, Jain, Sikh

Diwali

Thursday, October 23

Muslim

Ashura

Wednesday, November 5

Baha'i

Birth of Baha'u'llah

Wednesday, November 12

Jewish

Hanukkah

Beginning Wednesday, December 17, and ending Wednesday, December 24

Christian

Christmas

Thursday, December 25

Christian

Good Friday

Friday, April 3

Jewish

Pesach/Passover

Monday through Friday, April 6-10

Jewish

Shavout

Monday, May 25

Note: only Holy days falling on weekdays are noted. Holy days occurring during the summer break are excluded.

The above calendar (Table) is far from comprehensive. For example, the son of Mrs. Scheidt would have had 10 absences during the 2005-2006 school year due to religious obligations (Scheidt v. Tri-Creek School Corp., 2005). The Scheidt family belongs to the United Church of God, which requires its members to congregate at regional locations during seven annual Holy Days and the Feast of Tabernacles. A common policy among primary and secondary schools is to require parents to submit advanced notification of a religious event that will require a student's absence, rather than trying to establish a fixed schedule of Holy Days.

The classroom is also one of the primary places where students can learn about civic engagement and responsibility; therefore, it is the responsibility of teachers to encourage perspectives and attitudes that foster racial, ethnic, and religious tolerance. One method that has long been used by social studies teachers is to present photographs taken during vacation trips to introduce students to unfamiliar geographic locations (Lintner, 2005). A less costly approach for teaching tolerance in the classroom is to search the internet for photos that provide visual evidence of not only racial, ethnic, and religious differences, but also commonalities. Students could then be asked to share their thoughts and feelings (Lintner, 2005). Misunderstandings and biases that naturally arise could then be addressed as the teacher explains what the photo is actually portraying.

Using photographs culled from the internet to introduce students to diversity would be considered a form of multicultural education, which has been defined "… as a process through which individuals are exposed to the diversity that exists in the United States and the world" (Baker, 1993, as cited by Cunningham, 2005, p. 51). Cunningham (2005) explains that schools have become the primary means of teaching multiculturalism and thus religious tolerance, because American society has historically downplayed the social importance of diversity. This attitude has created insular communities chronically unfamiliar with others from different backgrounds, which breeds fear and prejudice. According to Cunningham (2005), one of the goals of a primary education is to increase familiarity with racial, ethnic, economic, and religious diversity, thereby reducing fear and prejudice.

The task of increasing familiarity begins with the teacher learning as much as feasible about diverse groups (Cunningham, 2005). For example, a teacher or school administrator faced with a religiously-diverse student body should learn as much as possible about the religious identities and practices of each student. Privacy concerns would naturally arise, but this could be ameliorated in part by expressing a healthy dose of respect and curiosity, in addition to gaining parental permission. Once this door has been opened between the teacher and student, student-student interactions that increase familiarity can begin. A diverse classroom creates an ideal environment in which each student can become familiar with the religious identity of other students. Cunningham (2005) suggests using cards that contain biographical information for each student, which can then be discussed in front of the whole class. Teachers can then use the cards to encourage multicultural interactions within the classroom (Cunningham, 2005). For example, when children form groups for classroom activities the teacher can intentionally increase the religious diversity of the groups using the information obtained.

Teaching religious tolerance in schools is necessary because familiarity with diversity is not innate (Cunningham, 2005). As discussed above, society has traditionally undervalued diversity, including religious diversity; which in turn encourages parents to ignore this essential aspect of civic responsibility, despite an increasingly diverse American culture. Therefore it is up to the schools to teach religious tolerance through classroom activities. As familiarity of other religions increase, the prevalence of fear and prejudice should decline.