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History / Social Studies
Science
Art/Music/Drama
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History
/ Social Studies
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IT IS OKAY |
IT’S NOT OKAY |
| To explain religious doctrines
(Biblical or Qur'anic or Vedic or other) and expose youngsters to a
religion’s fundamental narratives in keeping with historical method. |
To teach religious dogma, faith
doctrines, and narratives as history (i.e., that the stories in
venerated literature are historically accurate, that the characters are
real or that the events actually took place or that the miracles were
true) |
| To teach about religion in an
historical way (historical research works by means of traceable causation
and by analogy with the experiences of the present day) |
To teach about religion in a
non-historical way (e.g., using a worldview interpretation, overlooking
the fallibility of oral tradition or available archeological evidence) |
| To judge ancient writings using
academically sound procedures rather than the standards of a given
religion [OABITAR] |
To use one’s own worldview to
evaluate the validity or worth of ancient texts |
| To say, when Caleb asks if it is
true that [the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven]: "Some
people believe so; others don’t. It’s a matter of faith. Why don’t
you discuss it with your (parent or religious leader)?
To say, in the above situation, "This assertion from [the Qur’an]
is part of a narrative that is sacred [to Muslims] and not a
statement that comes from historical perspective. |
To use your own worldview rather
than an academic foundation to respond, when Sarah asks if [e.g., Moses’s
parting the Red Sea to let the Israelites escape their enemies] really
happened that way |
| To include creation stories and
Creationism concepts in classes on comparative religion as an example of
how some religious groups believe human life began [ADL] |
To teach that a particular creation
story or a Creationist explanation of human origins is in fact how human
life began |
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| Science |
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IT IS OKAY |
IT’S NOT OKAY |
| To teach evolution in science class.
The United States Supreme Court has determined that it is unconstitutional
to restrict an educator’s right to teach evolution [ADL-with court
citation 1] |
To fail to teach evolution in an
effort to avoid offending some religious individuals |
| To refuse to teach creationism. The
United States Supreme Court has held that it is unconstitutional to
require educators who teach evolution also to teach creationism [ADL-with
court citation 2] |
To teach creationism (creationist
theory based on the biblical account) in the science classroom [FCG]
To teach "creation science" (creationism) as a response or
counterpart to the theory of evolution
Creationism does not meet either the legal requirement or tenets of
science as scientists use the term) [ADL-with court
citation 3] |
| To teach in science classes only
the scientific explanations for life on earth and scientific
critiques of evolution [ADL] |
To teach as science, the
theory that humankind was created by a divine being [ADL]
To treat creationist analysis as scientific critique |
| To use scientific criteria
and statements of the preeminent scientific organizations to extol the
merits of the scientific theory of evolution through natural selection |
To provide to students disclaimers
regarding the theory of evolution as the only explanation for the
development of humankind (Disclaimers have been found to be
unconstitutional.) [ADL-with court citation 4] |
| To refer to creationist concepts of
origins as examples of how some religious groups believe human life began |
To teach that Creationism is a
scientific fact [ADL]
To teach "intelligent design theory," that is, that the very
complexity of the world makes the existence of God the only reasonable
explanation for the development of humans. This theory, often couched in
scientific terminology, is just another species of creationism theory, and
thus also must not be taught in the classroom as science theory or fact [ADL] |
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Art/Music/Drama
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IT IS OKAY |
IT’S NOT OKAY |
| To include the study of religiously
inspired material as a part of a secular educational program. [ADL-with
court citation 5] |
To permanently display religious
artwork. [ADL-with court citation 6] |
| To use art, drama, music or
literature with religious or nonreligious themes when it serves a sound
educational goal in the curriculum [TGRPS] |
To allow religious or freethought
music, literature, art or other worldview-derived activities to dominate a
classroom activity [ADL] |
| To teach about religious and
nonreligious (freethought) influences on art, music, literature, science,
and social studies in relation to a culture [OABITAR] |
To ignore the sway of religious and
nonreligious imperatives on culture, or to emphasize one form of influence
and ignore the other [OABITAR] |
| To include religious or
nonreligious (freethought) music or drama in school events that are part
of a secular program of education |
To have a school’s choral group
sing songs that are religious in nature unless the songs are part of a
larger program of music that is secular [ADL] |
| To present public performances or
presentations of music, literature and art are permissible, as long as
they are "presented objectively as part of a secular program of
education" [ADL-with court citation 7] |
The content of school special
events, assemblies, concerts and programs must be primarily secular,
objective and educational, and may not focus on any one religion or
religious observance and may not appear to endorse religion over
nonreligion or one religion over another[ADL-with court
citation 8and citation 7] |
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Assignments  Holidays
1 Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97
(1968) --back
2 Aguillard v. Edwards, 765 F.2d 1251
(5th Cir.), aff'd 482 U.S. 595 (1987) --back
3 McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education,
529 F.Supp. 1255 (E.D. Ark.1982) cited favorably in Edwards v. Aguillard, 482
U.S. 578 (1987) --back
4 Freiler v. Tangipahoa Parish Board of
Education, 185 F.3d 337 (5th Cir. 1999) cert. denied, 530 U.S. 1251 (2000) --back
5 Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Board of
Education, 333 U.S. 203 (1948) (Jackson, J., concurring) --back
6 Washegesic v. Bloomingdale Public
Schools, 33 F.3d 679 (6th Cir. 1994) --back
7 School District of Abington Township, PA v. Schempp,
374 U.S. 203 (1963) --back
8 Sease v. School Dist. of
Philadelphia, 811 F.Supp. 183 (E.D. Pa. 1993) --back
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