Religious illiteracy
We're woefully uninformed about faiths — even our own, author says
Add up all of what we don't know, not just about other people's religions but about our own, and it makes America "a nation of religious illiterates" — at the same time that we profess to be one of the most religious countries in the world, says Stephen Prothero.
Prothero is a Boston University professor, chairman of its religion department and author of "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — And Doesn't." The book, published this month, includes a small encyclopedia of religious information, from al-Qaida to Zionism. The heart of the book, though, and the reason it's getting lots of attention (including a coveted spot earlier this week on "The Daily Show"), is the light it shines on American ignorance when it comes to the who, what and why of religion.
In "Religious Literacy," Prothero outlines how it is that Americans have become so unknowledgeable about religion and offers a far-reaching "modest proposal" to turn things around: the re-introduction of religious education in public schools. But before you either applaud or scream (depending on your world view), understand that Prothero is not trying to make students more religious.
It's all about prepositions: not of religion but about religion. No preaching, just teaching.
That's not unconstitutional, he points out. But the current strategy of trying to abide by the First Amendment by avoiding teaching about religion in public schools "may well be violating the Constitution, by indoctrinating students into a secular view of the world." At a minimum, he says, "this tendency is fueling the self-identity of many evangelicals as a besieged minority."
Knowing about religion is crucial, because "religion is the most powerful piece of culture," Prothero said in a phone interview from his home in Boston. It fuels wars and inspires justice, and "after 9/11 it's really hard to pretend anymore that religion doesn't matter. That it's not literally a life-and-death matter.
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