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In our school system today children are being indoctrinated. No, not by the Evangelicals, Jews, or Muslims, they are being indoctrinated by the secularists.

Our public school system today refuses to acknowledge the role of religion in America and the world. Texts books mention religion as a side note rather than presenting it with the respect and serious thought that it deserves.

This is something that must change. children need to learn about how religion has shaped not only America and its values, but also the world.

Religion is viewed by the right as a cause (Christianity in particular), and as a bane by the left. Religion divides and many people have passionate sentiments attached to it. But sadly many people are religiously illiterate.

Many people cannot even name all the ten commandments, many dont know who wrote the gospels, what holy books Muslims use or what are the four noble truths of Buddhism.

Christian conservatives champion the Bible, but many dont even know what’s written in the Bible. An overwhelming majority of children today cannot tell the difference between the different denominations of Christianity or even the difference between Judiasm and Islam.

America was founded by people escaping religious persecution and religion became the foundation of American colonial society. Pennsylvania was William Penn’s “holy experiment” for the Quakers. Rhode Island became a haven for several different denominations and Maryland was a haven for Catholics.

Colonies passed laws that required people to know the Bible and some of the basic catechisms of their denominations. People knew the Bible by heart and this not only spread a sense of morality in this new, strange world but also made many people literate.

People learned to read from the Bible and so American history has become inexerably tied to religion.

It is not possible to teach history or world literature without touching religion. Religion played a key role in the civil rights movement and the work of Rev. Matrin Luther King Jr.

The issues of abortion and gay rights are tied to Abrahamic religious thought. Thomas Jefferson wanted the American seal to be a depiction of Moses guiding the Isrealites out of the wilderness. Harvard University, the best college in the world, started as a college of divinity.

And there are many more examples of how religion has helped shape America.
This is not only limited to America. World history and politics are shaped by religion. How can people understand the conflicts in the Middle East without learning about the Crusades and the religious significance of Jerusalem?

The problems in Tibet and the exile of the Dhali Lama. Osama bin Laden and his motivations. The untouchables in India and the caste system. All these things involve religion and some form of religious literacy.

But textbooks avoid these things and mention them as an afterthought.

This attitude must change. The first amendment does stop religion from being established by the government and I agree that teaching religion is wrong. However, teaching about religion is constitutional.

As Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark said, American school children are being indoctrinated by the “religion of secularism.”

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