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¶ … Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- And Doesn't," Prothero claims that "Americans are both deeply religious and profoundly ignorant about religion." The professed religiosity of most Americans belies a lack of actual knowledge about religion. As Prothero puts it, "They are Protestants who can't name the four Gospels, Catholics who can't name the seven sacraments, and Jews who can't name the five books of Moses," (p. 30). Most Americans, according to Prothero, are unable to distinguish a Muslim from a Sikh, and cannot even name the five major world religions beyond Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Religious ignorance has very real consequences, other than being a simple embarrassment. As Prothero points out, religious ignorance led Americans to target any man wearing a turban after September 11. Religious ignorance is a sign of a broader xenophobia and general ignorance about cultures, people, and history beyond American borders. The consequences of ignorance can be both direct and indirect, leading to such things as misinterpreting the bible to support slavery or to prohibit marriage equality. Therefore, Americans have exhibited remarkable and potentially dangerous ignorance about their own religions, and about the religions of other cultures.
During the course of the argument, Prothero introduces himself as a religious studies scholar and distinguishes his work from...
Prothero also offers personal anecdotes to intersperse the essay. The first-person narration adds context and credibility to the essay. Moreover, Prothero's background in academia leads the author to suggest that the solution to the problem of religious ignorance is to boost religious studies education. By distinguishing between theology and religious studies, the author allays fears that teaching students about religion, and about religion from a cultural perspective, is not the same as teaching students how to worship. Teaching students about world religions can also be framed as a civic duty that promotes cross-cultural awareness and fosters peace.
In "Excerpt from 'Comparative Religion: Whither -- and Why?'" Wilfred Cantwell Smith argues that books written about religion are reaching a wider audience than ever before. This means that authors of books about religion should frame their discourse for a global readership, rather than assuming that only a narrow homogenous audience is encountering the material. Smith claims that authors should be sensitive to their readers, and write "not only more courteously but more responsibly." The author makes this statement not as a moral injunction but as a frank observation that religious scholarship has become, for practical reasons, politically correct.
Another assertion that Smith makes is that "no statement about a religion…
Literacy in the Aegean Bronze Age Anthropologists and archaeologists call certain societies "iron age" or "bronze age." In doing this they recognize that the properties of the main metal used by a society's technology greatly affect both its use and through this the nature of that society. For instance, bronze unlike iron is too soft to be used for ploughing; it is an alloy. Bronze can be smelted at lower temperatures
Scu.edu).Andre goes on to say some critics see Hirsch's efforts to bring culture into the classroom are not so much "cultural literacy" but more like "cultural indoctrination." Not only is the Hirsch strategy and methodology seen as flawed, Andre and Velasquez continue, the "content" he prescribes is subject to criticism. For example, the question of "Whose form of knowledge, culture, vision, history and authority will prevail as the national culture?"
In fact, this is something that Obama discusses openly in his book, Dreams of My Father. In that book, Obama discusses the fact that his stepfather is Muslim and how he believes his stepfather's religion helped shape the man that he is. However, that book, written before Obama came into the national spotlight and certainly before his presidential bid, does not say anything about Obama being Muslim. It is
African-Americans and Diabetes Diabetes in the African-American Adult Population Diabetes is a serious public health issue, and often seen in the African-American adult population. According to the CDC, African-Americans are twice as likely to have type II diabetes as Caucasians (Diabetes, 2011). This is highly significant, since 90 to 95% of new diabetes cases each year are type II (Diabetes, 2011). There are several reasons for these cases, and genetics is one
The other issue is the poverty that makes the population not access medical healthcare. The most common diseases are asthma and diabetes. This is because the place is damp and highly populated hence no free circulation of air. However, the community health center and the health department of New York are working together to help curb this issue by educating the people, and advocating for preventive measures (Shelley et
African-American Literature The Implications of African-American Literature Social Economic Environmental Cultural How African-American Literature Has Changed -- Across the Genres Slave Narratives and Biographies Novels African-American Literature and Its Impact on Society Literature is very important. Many people love to read, and still others love to write. Together, they make a winning combination. Literature is often studied, but one aspect of it has been getting very little attention. African-American literature has often times been ignored, or been only selectively