This Is Education
“What’s brought more violence into the world: openness, understanding and tolerance or fundamentalism and fanaticism?” asks Tony Moyers, a professor in the Center for Religious Studies and Ethics at Athens State University, a public school in Athens, Alabama.
“Tolerance doesn’t necessarily mean that we all agree,” he asserts.
Dr. Robby White, the center’s director, concurs, saying that it “doesn’t mean we don’t have our own convictions. But we’re living through days when we’re reaping a whirlwind of fanaticism. If teaching religious studies can help a little way to create a space for a little more openness, respect and tolerance, I’m willing to dedicate myself to that.”
Kay Campbell, a religion writer for the Huntsville, Alabama, Times, interviewed Moyers and White in a recent feature picked up by Religion News Service.
Both the Bible and the Quran are textbooks in the Athens State program.
White, who’s also a Baptist pastor, does not find it difficult to separate his classroom and pulpit roles. “As a pastor, I’m saying, ‘This is our story.’ As a teacher, I’m saying, ‘This is the story.’ I’m trying to promote understanding and goodwill among religions—not indoctrination, but education. If we offer just one perspective, Baptist, Episcopal, or even strictly Christian, it would violate church and state separation.”
“Hopefully,” White says, “education is about learning new ideas, being stretched, then reaching one’s own conclusion.”
How refreshing.
“Tolerance doesn’t necessarily mean that we all agree,” he asserts.
Dr. Robby White, the center’s director, concurs, saying that it “doesn’t mean we don’t have our own convictions. But we’re living through days when we’re reaping a whirlwind of fanaticism. If teaching religious studies can help a little way to create a space for a little more openness, respect and tolerance, I’m willing to dedicate myself to that.”
Kay Campbell, a religion writer for the Huntsville, Alabama, Times, interviewed Moyers and White in a recent feature picked up by Religion News Service.
Both the Bible and the Quran are textbooks in the Athens State program.
White, who’s also a Baptist pastor, does not find it difficult to separate his classroom and pulpit roles. “As a pastor, I’m saying, ‘This is our story.’ As a teacher, I’m saying, ‘This is the story.’ I’m trying to promote understanding and goodwill among religions—not indoctrination, but education. If we offer just one perspective, Baptist, Episcopal, or even strictly Christian, it would violate church and state separation.”
“Hopefully,” White says, “education is about learning new ideas, being stretched, then reaching one’s own conclusion.”
How refreshing.
posted by Jan Turrentine @ 7:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home