Posted on 04/30/2002 10:25:50 AM PDT by summer
Utah Schools Praised for Religious Freedom
Tuesday, April 2000 BY HEATHER MAY
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
To Utahns who sometimes feel alienated living in a state dominated by one faith, this might sound strange: The Beehive state is considered a leader in promoting religious liberty in its public classrooms.
Instead of shying away from discussing religion and the tensions that sometimes rise between people of different faiths, some Utah educators are teaching their students about various world faiths and how to engage in religious debate civilly and respectfully.
Meanwhile, teachers in other states struggle to bring up the topic at all, or they promote a particular faith unabashedly.
"You are on the front lines to preserve and expand freedom," Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center in Virginia, told Utah educators involved in a state project aimed at finding constitutional and educational ways to talk about religion in the context of other subjects.
"In a state where many people think religious liberty can't be taken seriously, many teachers are taking it seriously," he said.
Utah's involvement in the 3Rs Project is in part why the Freedom Forum, which is dedicated to preserving free press and free speech, will name four local schools on May 7 as national models in a new initiative to get schools to teach democratic principles.
The schools include three Salt Lake County middle schools and a Logan elementary school.
Each school will receive $36,000 over three years to develop methods for teaching students how to exercise their civil rights, involving students and parents in school decisions, and encouraging good citizenship in local communities.
Haynes spoke at a meeting for educators involved in Utah's 3Rs project, which stands for rights, responsibilities and respect. Haynes helped create the national 3Rs program; Utah is just one of two states that has adopted the program statewide.
Martha Ball, a retired history teacher, helped start the program in Utah after witnessing a religious divide surface between students who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those who were not. During a lesson on Utah history, Ball told her junior high class they would be discussing Mormon pioneers and a student said, "You say the word 'Mormon' in this class and my dad will sue." Another boy, who was Mormon, told a classmate to "just leave" if he didn't like Utah.
Ball wanted to start holding discussions on religious tensions but was warned by other teachers to ignore it. Ball said the teachers said that when such problems arose in their classes, they told students to talk about it with their parents.
"Teachers didn't know what their legal rights were," Ball said. "You can't teach history without teaching values that form history. And those values are formed by religion."
She gathered donations to train teachers to talk about religion using principles of the 3Rs Project. In history, English and even music classes, teachers learn to discuss histories of various faiths -- their origins, their primary beliefs and scriptures. Of course, teachers cannot promote or bash any religion.
Occasionally, Ball said, students defend their own religions, saying their church is the only "true church." Teachers are able to accommodate that belief, too, teaching students to respect and protect each other's individual rights.
Such lessons are critical after Sept. 11, Haynes said. Three people were killed following the terrorist attacks just because they were thought to be Muslim. "A lot of Americans don't understand what it means to be American and think it does have to do with race or religion," Haynes said.
The public classrooms are probably the best place for students to learn what it really means to be American -- how to respect and honor differences while finding common ground. Doing so will help the United States fight the war against terrorism, he said.
"Schools are key more than any other group," Haynes said. "Our answer to schools of terrorism must be schools that model and teach democracy."
hmay@sltrib.com
Tuesday, April 30, 2002
Yeh, Satanism.
The 11th Article of Faith: We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own cconscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
Also, Joseph Smith said he was as willing to die defending the rights of another church's freedom as his own. Mormons have also been known to help other churches build their chaples.
I will now sit back and hope that those closeminded bigots who can't stand to hear anything nice said about Mormons overlook this thread.
We're Baptist, but our neighbors down the hill are Mormons, and good folks. We have a lot in common. We also have our differences, but the faith is the same. They have not tred on us, nor we them. We also get along well with the Amish, because they put their faith in God over government and power. Gotta give them huge credit for that !!! If all fails in this country, the Amish can say: "Really? We didn't notice."
Although it wouldn't be the first time such lessons were forgotten on this continent. Some of the early European settlers in America came here due to religious persecution. After they arrived, some did persecute those who did not share their religion.
Fortunately, these days religious persecution is rare in the US, well, except it's still open season on Christians! ;)
That would allow abortion, fisting, and earth worship to become the norm. There would be no balance, or opposition allowed. That's how the public schools of today became liberal indoctrination centers. No dissention allowed!
We can teach and encourage common values..but no prayer or discussion of religion thank you..
No yoga, no meditation , no Mormon history, no Muslim doctrine , no prayer to other gods ..
Do as the OT tells us ..Fathers teach the word standing and sitting..keep it on your forehead and hands.. ..God will hold each of us personally responsible. We need to close government schools..that is the bottom line answer
It is one thing to note the pilgrims came to America for Religious freedom and another to teach the doctrine of the pilgrims..
Your apparent ignorance of the doctrines of a major religious denomination stands as an argument in favor of the very instruction you oppose....
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