April 17, 2000

Experts advise teaching the
three R's for religion in schools
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--The three R's--rights, responsibility and respect--provide the fundamental framework for finding consensus on the proper role of religion in public education, two nationally recognized authorities told North Texas school administrators and parents.
___Commitment to certain bedrock principles unites Americans at their best, said Charles Haynes, senior scholar for religious freedom programs at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center of Vanderbilt University.

THIS guide to religion in the public schools is available from the Freedom Forum web site.

___Those shared principles--the right to soul liberty and freedom of conscience, the responsibility to work for the common good and respect for individuals whose deeply held beliefs do not match one's own--provide the civic framework for American democracy, he said.
___"Those shared principles we have agreed to as American citizens allow us to engage each other across our differences," Haynes said. "In this new century, if we don't understand that Americans are defined by principles and not by bloodlines or kinship, we won't make it as a nation."
___Haynes and Oliver "Buzz" Thomas, a constitutional attorney and Baptist minister, held a series of workshops for public school principals, superintendents and other administrators and conducted a "town hall" public forum in the Dallas area April 6-7.
___"Finding Common Ground: The Appropriate Role of Religion in the Public Schools" was sponsored by the Dallas Independent School District Religious Community Task Force. Cooperating agencies included the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission and the Texas Education Agency regional service center.
___"At a time when litigation has replaced baseball as the national pastime, why would a public school district choose to deal with the issue of religion?" asked Thomas, an active member of the Supreme Court Bar and former general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs in Washington, D.C.
___"I would say because it's too risky not to do it. We can't afford not to deal with the issue."
___Public schools should neither be laboratories for religious indoctrination nor "religion-free zones," he said. Schools should not teach religion, but they should teach about religion because it is a vitally important part of American life.
___"Religion matters. It matters deeply in the United States," Thomas said.
___As students learn about the deeply held religious beliefs of their neighbors, understanding and respect grows, he said. On the other hand, failure to understand fosters intolerance. "Ignorance is a breeding ground for bigotry and prejudice."
___In an increasingly pluralistic and religiously diverse society, citizens must find ways to live with their differences and discover a "common ground" on which they can stand together, he said.
___"Columbine and Kosovo are both about the inability of people to live together across their differences," Thomas said. "The Constitution does not begin, 'We the tribe.' It's, 'We the people.'"
___In a question-and-answer session, Haynes and Thomas responded to inquiries regarding:
___ School prayer. "Stay tuned" was the best advice Thomas could offer regarding how the Supreme Court would rule regarding student-led prayers at public high school football games.
___"The good news is that the debate has moved beyond where we were for three decades. It's not a question of whether government should promote religion. Now the questions are about limits on student involvement," he said.
___On the related issue of student-led prayers at graduations and similar events, Thomas predicted the court might ask a school if it is willing to create a "First Amendment minute"--a brief open forum in which a student would have unrestricted access to the microphone.
___"The court would be likely to say if you have created a forum, ... have at it, and you get what you get," he said.
___Both Thomas and Haynes expressed doubts about the advisability or even the possibility of crafting a non-sectarian, non-proselytizing prayer.
___ Creationism. "We don't have consensus guidelines on this, but we need them," Haynes acknowledged. "Extremes have dominated the debate for too long."
___Haynes expressed his personal preference for teaching evolutionary theories as the prevailing models within the scientific community but also giving notice to students that the theories are under critique.
___Teachers should offer disclaimers that the purpose of teaching evolutionary theory is not to undermine what a student may learn about the origin of life from parents or faith communities, he said. In particular, science teachers should avoid making metaphysical claims outside the bounds of science.
___ Parents. Whether a school is crafting a course of study about religion or offering a reading selection that some parents might find objectionable, parents should be recognized as having primary responsibility for the well-being of their children, both Haynes and Thomas stressed.
___"Make sure you communicate with parents and listen to parents," Thomas said.
___

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