Question Is teaching religion in public schools morally wrong?

Accepted:
April 30, 2007

Comments

It probably depends on what you have in mind as "teaching religion". You might have in mind teaching comparative religions or the study of a particular religion as a cultural and/or historical phenomenon. If so, then I don't see why teaching religion, in this sense, is or need be wrong, at least if it is offered as an elective, rather than a requirement. However, you might mean teaching religion as involving representing theistic claims as true and/or advocating some religious doctrines, rather than others. It seems to me that this is probably wrong in multiple ways. First, it is legally wrong because it violates the anti-establishment clause of the First Amendment, requiring a separation of church and state. But there seem to be good moral reasons for this constitutional guarantee, so it seems likely to be morally wrong as well. Whether to believe religious claims at all and, if so, which ones seem to be matters of conscience and are subject to persistent, intractable debate that is resistant to resolution. In such circumstances, there seem to be strong moral reasons to tolerate differences of religious belief, in part by relegating their influence to a spehere of private conduct and concern. Moreover, there is a powerful moral tradition that thinks that we need to condition the exercise of the coercive power of the state on the ability to justify burdens that it imposes on some citizens in terms that it would be reasonable for them to understand and accept. It is arguable that this constraint of public justification rules out state action that rests on religious belief, inasmuch as religious belief seems to rely on faith, rather than evidence or secular justification.

Question Is teaching religion in public schools morally wrong? Accepted:April 30, 2007

Question Is teaching religion in public schools morally wrong?

Accepted:
April 30, 2007