I have discovered a unique forum on LinkedIn.com.  It is the TED forum, and if you know anything about TED, you know that it is where innovative ideas are discussed and problems are solved.  

I just answered a forum question and would like to share my answer here.  

Click here to see the forum in action with all of the other responses.

————————————-

N: I went to Catholic school for 7 years of my life. Seven years of religion classes, masses, Bible study, observing religious rites and holidays, nuns in the classroom and more. While I was studying, we were taught to always keep an open mind, that we do not know everything which is part of the beauty of life. 

I knew that no one religion had all of the answers… after all… look at how many religions exist! The important thing about my education is that I was taught about other religions, other cultures and we had an outstanding science program. But I am of the lucky slim percentile who get to experience such education in this country. 

I believe that there is a place for both science and religion in the classroom, as long as they are both presented as a part of the story of humanity. Education that focuses on our differences only separates us further, and strays us from our goal: understanding OUR existence. 

Religion represents our past: ways of thinking, storytelling, interpretations of natural phenomenon, values and the ways people dealt with the things life threw at them. While the values of religion can be applicable to your life today, it is important to present the stories in the way you would present any other pieces of literature in class, allowing it to be up for interpretation and discussion. I find it helpful to apply a macro point of view, understanding what the religion does for it’s community of believers. Usually it is a coping mechanism used to deal with social repression from people outside of the community of believers. 

Presenting religion as the truth is a narrow-minded point of view. It automatically eliminates all other possibilities. As a species we understand that other species came and went before us, and that we are not an anomaly. You can see it in nature, all around us. 

Presenting science as the end-all be-all in truth is also a narrow-minded point of view in that we all inherently know that there is something larger going on. Allowing students to learn about both in an open-minded environment allows for imagination and exploration to begin. 

It is only in openly teaching all that we know that we may discover that which we do not yet know.