12 Education and Religion

AnOverview of Education and Religion Sociological Perspectives on Education

Functionalist Perspectiveson Education Conf lictPerspectives on Education Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives onEducation

Problems Within Elementaryand Secondary Schools

Unequal Funding of Public Schools School ViolenceDropping OutRacial Segregation and Resegregation

Opportunities and Challenges in Colleges and Universities

Opportunities and Challenges in Community CollegesOpportunities and Challengesin Four-Year Colleges and UniversitiesThe Saari ng Cost of a CollegeEducation Racial and EthnicDif ferences inEnrollment

Religion in Historical Perspective

Religion and the Meaning of Life Religion and ScientificExplanations

SociologicalPerspectives on Religion

FunctionalistPerspectives onReligion Conf lict Perspectives on Religion Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives on Religion

Types of Religious Organization

Ecclesia The Church-Sect TypologyCults

Trends in Religion in the United States Education and Religion in the Future

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areteachingourchildren a theory [evolution] that most of us don't believe in.I don't think Godcreates everything on a day-to-day basis,likethe color of the sky. But I do believehecreatedAdam and Eve-instantly.

-Steve Farrell,a resident of Dover,Pennsylvania, explaining why he approves of the Dover schoolboard'sdecision to require eighth-grade biology teachers to teach"intelligent design"-an assertion that the universeis so complex that an intelligent,supernatural powermust have created it-as an alternativetothe theory of evolution(Powell,2004:Al)

I

defini t e l y

would pref er to believe that God createdme than that I'm 50th cousin to a silverback ape. What's wrong with wanting our childrento hear about all the holes in the theory of evolution?

-Lark Myers,anotherresident of Dover, who also wantsherchildtolearnaboutintelligent design at school (Powell, 2004:Al)

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I

believe

it is wrong to introducea non- scientific "explanation"of theorigins of life into thescience curriculum.Thispolicy was not endorsed by the Dover High Schoolscience department.I think this policywas approved for religiousreasons, not to improvescience educationf or mychild.

-Tammy Kitzmiller,oneof the elevenparents whof iled alawsuit

(Kitzmiller v.Do v er )

againsttheschool board, challengingits controversial decision(ACLU,2005)

3. You have beenappointed to apresidentialcom- missiononchild-care problemsin rhe Unired Srares.Howtoprovide high-qualirychildcarear affordable prices is a key issue for rhefirstmeeting. What kinds of suggestions wouldyou take tothe

The Kendall Companion Website

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Supplemenr yourreview of this chapter by going to the companion website to tak e one of the tutorial quizzes,use the f lash cardsto masterkeyterms,and check our the many otherstudy aids you'llf ind meeting?Howdo you think your suggestions should be funded? Howdoes the f uturelook for childrenin high-, middle-, and low-income fami- lies inthe United States? there. You'llalso f ind special f eatures suchas GSS Data andCensus 2000 inf ormationthatwill put data andresources at yourf ingertips tohelp you with thatspecialproject or help you do some research on your own.

P

eople have an impatienceabout science. They think it's this practical process thatexplains how everything works, butthat's the least interesting part.Weunderstand a lot ofthe mechanismsof evolution but it's whatwe

don't

understand that makesit exciting....It's very clear that intelligent designhas become a stalking-horse.Ifthese school boards had their druthers,they would teach Noah'sflood and the6,OOO-year-olddesign ofEarth.My fear is that they are making realheadway in the popular imagination.

-Kenneth R.Miller,a universitybiologistand author of the biology textbook used in Dover beforethe schoolboard'sdecision,explaining why he believes that the teaching of intelligent design in public classrooms is a verybad idea (Powell, 2004:

Al)

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hat is all the controversy about? Howdid a small schooldistrict draw somuch attentionto itself and end upwith a district judge ruling that the school board'sdecision to introduce intelligent design as an al-ternative to evolution violated the First Amend-ment to the United States Constitution?

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The argument over intelligentdesign is the lat- ~

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est debate in a lengthy battle over the teaching of

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creationism versus evolutionism in public schools, and it is only one of many arguments that will continue to take place regarding the appropriaterelationship between public education and religion in the United States. More than seventy years ago,

Formanyyears, people have argued aboutwhat should (or should not)be taught in U.S. public schools,including the teaching of creationism or intelligent design as contrastedwith evolution. Shown here is Dr.Kenneth Miller,a biology professor,during a discussion of the pros and cons of incorporating the teaching of intelligent design into the Ohio state science curriculum.