I came across something very interesting as I looked at all my news sites this morning. Flipping through stories on KSL.com I came across an editorial that they had cross posted with the Deseret News entitled: "10 Reasons Why Religion Belongs In School." I encourage you to read it. It's rather eye opening. Of course, it's also not surprising that it's coming from the Deseret News. If you're not from Utah and not familiar with the paper, it's basically a newspaper connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
When you start to dive into the editorial, they try to couch their terms right off the bat, saying they want kids to "learn about religion" in schools, portraying that they're stopping just short of saying that schools should be teaching and openly advocating certain religious principles. They then go on to list all the ways in which religion might be a cure all for America's school system.
Let's take a look at some of these. First off, they cite a couple of studies that say religion helps brain development. The link they provide to justify this isn't an actual study at all. It's another opinion piece, from Guam of all places, that puts a pro-religious spin on a study that actually finds that children raised in religious settings tend to have issues distinguishing fantasy from reality. Check out the actual study here. They also cite the magazine "Psychology Today" saying that pretend play helps children. Sure it does. My Developmental Psychology prof would have surely agreed with this. However I think he would have also said that by the time kids get into school, especially secondary school, it's time to start focusing on critical thinking skills rather than pretend play. In fact, the brain developments that the Deseret News would like to link to religion tend to usually come from studying music and the arts. But let's not let facts get in the way of the Des News editor's personal battle in the culture wars.
Second they say that religion keeps kids out of trouble. Sure, it might. However this benefit is hardly unique to religion. Schools and community organizations offer plenty of organized activities that give kids focus, a sense of community, a chance to learn social norms, and a place to channel their rather copious amounts of energy. Things like sports leagues, music programs, and after school programs all offer this same benefit without having to resort to religious teachings.
Third they mention that religious schools tend to perform better than public schools or charter schools. They cite a 2013 article from the Peabody Journal of Education to back this up. Again the link provided is not to the actual study but to a Christian article about the study. The article then mentions that the study itself isn't even a causal or correlational study. It's a meta-analysis of previous studies and statistics, basically a summary and interpretation of other people's work. While meta-analysis does have it's place in academic research, anyone who has actually taken a basic research methods class knows that meta-analysis certainly cannot claim causality nor can it really make a strong case for correlation. It's just as easy to say that benefits derive from other aspects of religious schools such as smaller class sizes or as the article itself even mentions, the fact that kids are often pushed to excel in harder classes and the arts. Any connection of actual religious teaching to these effects is tenuous at best and not borne out in other research.
Fourth, they say, based on the opinion of one psychologist, that religion helps kids develop psychologically. Well psychological development is largely tied to brain development, which we debunked in point number one. The rest of it is tied to a complex series of nature vs nurture questions that psychologists are still debating. Again the link given in the article is not to an unbiased academic source, but a Christian site that makes no attempt to hide it's bias. Also the "expert" that wrote the piece offers not a single shred of scientific or academic evidence to back up her assertions.
Next they say that religious schools and classes help American children read more. Again, this benefit is not unique to religious institutions. Honors and AP classes also offer extensive reading programs to kids, again without the religious slant. These programs also expose kids to a wider variety of reading material, almost certainly more than they would be exposed to in a strictly religious setting. Would a religious school encourage kids to read books about secular philosophy or a work critical of their religion? I doubt it. I'm all for schools encouraging kids to read more and revamping their reading programs, but again religion doesn't really offer any more of a tangible benefit here.
On we go to six out of ten. Supposedly religion helps kids learn more about themselves. Here they actually do site a study, a study done with a Christian slant to fulfill a degree in Biblical studies. The study claims that specifically Christian education helps kids overcome things like identity crises. The study does not appear to use any kind of control setting nor does it study how kids in a nonreligious setting move past these issues. In fact, the entire point of the study, as stated in the abstract, is to establish the pattern in Christian studies. For this to have any real academic use, it would have to be tested against kids learning social norms and coping skills in secular settings. Also, I would contend that overtly religious reasoning in dealing with these issues doesn't actually solve internal issues, but just casts them in a different light, perhaps causing different issues later on when the child inevitably comes into contact with the wider world and different types of cultures and beliefs.
Next apparently religion helps you get a job. They site a study showing that there are fewer unemployed religious studies majors than business majors. While the numbers cited are statically significant, the survey is merely laying out the numbers, not ascribing any particular reasoning to them. The survey says that 2.5% of religious studies majors are unemployed. Well, 0.0% percent of Astronomy, archaeology, genetics, cognitive science, and nuclear engineering students are unemployed, so maybe your kids are better majoring in science than in business or religion. See, I can make extrapolations from data too.
Number eight says that religious schooling helps further your education. According to LSU, religious studies students go on to get higher degrees. This isn't exactly breaking news. A graduate degree is pretty much essential to people looking for a job in religion. I know, because I was going to go into the clergy. That required a master's degree. Again, other majors in science and cognitive science also encourage and often require advanced degrees. The article also ventures that you learn things like critical thinking skills in religion classes. No, you don't. Religion is one giant appeal to authority and is the exact opposite from critical thinking. Critical thinking is fostered in language, science, and the arts.
Are you ready for number nine? It suggests that religion is good for American business. After all, happy people work better, and according to the Washington Post, religious people are happier! Click over to the link on story. Again, it's not scientific or academic research, but a pundit's own opinion and reasoning. What evidence is cited to back this up? None. Sure, religion can provide a framing construct for people to arrange their lives in a way that will make themselves happy, but many other fulfilling aspects in life allow us to do the same thing. Religion also often boasts an us vs them aspect to that framing construct which can in the end generate happiness in a person by allowing them to feel superior to another person.
Finally the article ends by saying that religion helps knock down depression. This comes from the view of one religious sociologist who again did a meta-analysis of previous work. Depression, especially in children and teens is a complex set of circumstances and emotions that must be dealt with on a case by case basis. As I said earlier, mental well being and social coping skills are influenced by a myriad of factors both biological and environmental. This is even more the case with teenagers who are flooded with a new range of hormones and emotions when they go through puberty. A skilled psychologist may indeed use religion in helping a teen patient overcome depression if it's already a part of his or her life. However, it's only one tool in the tool box and isn't the correct tool as often as the Deseret News would have us believe. Cognitive behavioral therapy is often the tool of choice for dealing with adolescent depression. This study, from Duke University, studies the effects of this therapy when used with certain medications.
So we've now seen that the Deseret News approach is overly simplistic at best and just plain dishonest at worst. I'm not saying that there should be no place for religion in the home or in a child's life. However, that place should be in the home or in the church, not in the public school. This is an established precedent in American courts. The Deseret news simply tries to reframe the tired old arguments made by the culture warriors who are trying to get their religious beliefs plugged back into public schools. Both the courts and the academic sphere have found these arguments to be unconvincing. Nice try though.
It's also curious to note that the Deseret News doesn't mention which religion they want to be taught in schools. They make it appear on the surface that they just want kids to be taught about religion in general, but drilling into what source material they don't misstate or spin reveals that they are pushing for the advocacy of Christianity. I highly doubt that most of the readers of the Deseret News would be happy if their kids came home from school and said they learned that Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet. Schools and teachers would be immediately slammed for advocating Islam.
It's just another volley fired in the culture wars and more us vs them reasoning. If you want to teach your kids about religion, teach them about the love and mercy of Christ, and then let the schools teach arts, language, math, and science.
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