Overview

It isn’t just in recent arguments over the teaching of intelligent design or reciting the pledge of allegiance that religion and education have butted heads: since their beginnings nearly two centuries ago, public schools have been embroiled in heated controversies over religion’s place  in the education system of a pluralistic nation. In this book, Benjamin Justice and Colin Macleod take up this rich and significant history of conflict with renewed clarity and astonishing breadth. Moving from the American Revolution to the present—from the common schools of the nineteenth century to the charter schools of the twenty-first—they offer one of the most comprehensive assessments of religion and education in America that has ever been published. From Bible readings and school prayer to teaching evolution and cultivating religious tolerance, Justice and Macleod consider the key issues and colorful characters that have shaped the way American schools have attempted to negotiate religious pluralism in a politically legitimate fashion. While schools and educational policies have not always advanced tolerance and understanding, Justice and Macleod point to the many efforts Americans have made to find a place for religion in public schools that both acknowledges the importance of faith to so many citizens and respects democratic ideals that insist upon a reasonable separation of church and state. Finally, they apply the lessons of history and political philosophy to an analysis of three critical areas of religious controversy in public education today: student-led religious observances in extracurricular activities, the tensions between freedom of expression and the need for inclusive environments, and the shift from democratic control of schools to loosely regulated charter and voucher programs. Altogether Justice and Macleod show how the interpretation of educational history through the lens of contemporary democratic theory offers both a richer understanding of past disputes and new ways of addressing contemporary challenges.  

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Reviews

This short, well-footnoted book is particularly timely given the current clashes between liberals, who tend to endorse a one-size-fits-all approach to public education that focuses on college preparation and job-training, and conservatives, many of whom have lost faith in public education and seek various forms of choice plans from charters to private and religious schools. The book argues that while the country is composed of citizens of many religions and no religion, public schools have a role in enabling Americans of different views to come together, learn to respect competing views, and make the necessary democratic decisions. Further, the authors maintain that this process provides legitimacy to a democratic state. The record of our schools over more than two hundred years bears evidence of these legitimacy tensions. The authors examine these tensions over four historical periods through the lens of school content, purpose, control, and inclusion: the emergence of public schooling in the early days of the Republic, the early and mid-19th century, the early 20th century through the 1950s, and the modern era with its special religious tensions, deepening criticisms of public education, and emergence of competing ideas for how to structure and deliver schooling in a religiously pluralistic nation. The book ends by reiterating the severity of the controversies surrounding public education today, the lessons of history, and the contribution the perspective of democratic political philosophy can offer to our national debate. Recommended. --Choice

Since its early beginnings in the nineteenth century, public education in America has been roiled by controversy over religion. The controversy is never finally resolved because it arises from conflict between values at the very foundation of our democracy, such as the individual rights of parents and children and the interest that all citizens share in how well coming generations are educated. Have a Little Faith is a provocative and utterly engrossing exploration of the abiding conundrum of religion in American education. Justice and Macleod have written a landmark study on a topic as important as any other to the future of American democracy, and they have done so with a grace and clarity that makes their argument accessible to a broad public. --Eamonn Callan, author of Creating Citizens

Understanding and responding to the religious (or non-religious) other is a critical component of public education in a democracy, especially today. By neglecting religious topics, many schools miss an important opportunity to develop public reason, which requires exposure to different beliefs and ideas. With sensitive awareness to the difficulties this can present for teachers, this book offers a balanced and necessary look at the different sides of the issue, formulating a clear and convincing democratic rationale for addressing religion in our schools. --Walter Feinberg, coauthor of For the Civic Good Understanding and responding to the religious (or non-religious) other is a critical component of public education in a democracy, especially today. By neglecting religious topics, many schools miss an important opportunity to develop public reason, which requires exposure to different beliefs and ideas. With sensitive awareness to the difficulties this can present for teachers, this book offers a balanced and necessary look at the different sides of the issue, formulating a clear and convincing democratic rationale for addressing religion in our schools. --Walter Feinberg, coauthor of For the Civic Good Since its early beginnings in the nineteenth century, public education in America has been roiled by controversy over religion. The controversy is never finally resolved because it arises from conflict between values at the very foundation of our democracy, such as the individual rights of parents and children and the interest that all citizens share in how well coming generations are educated. Have a Little Faith is a provocative and utterly engrossing exploration of the abiding conundrum of religion in American education. Justice and Macleod have written a landmark study on a topic as important as any other to the future of American democracy, and they have done so with a grace and clarity that makes their argument accessible to a broad public. --Eamonn Callan, author of Creating Citizens Since its early beginnings in the nineteenth century, public education in America has been roiled by controversy over religion. The controversy is never finally resolved because it arises from conflict between values at the very foundation of our democracy, such as the individual rights of parents and children and the interest that all citizens share in how well coming generations are educated. Have a Little Faith is a provocative and utterly engrossing exploration of the abiding conundrum of religion in American education. Justice and Macleod have written a landmark study on a topic as important as any other to the future of American democracy, and they have done so with a grace and clarity that makes their argument accessible to a broad public. --Eamonn Callan, author of Creating Citizens

Understanding and responding to the religious (or non-religious) other is a critical component of public education in a democracy, especially today. By neglecting religious topics, many schools miss an important opportunity to develop public reason, which requires exposure to different beliefs and ideas. With sensitive awareness to the difficulties this can present for teachers, this book offers a balanced and necessary look at the different sides of the issue, formulating a clear and convincing democratic rationale for addressing religion in our schools. --Walter Feinberg, coauthor of For the Civic Good

Author Information

Benjamin Justice is an associate professor at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. He is the editor of The Founding Fathers, Education, and the Great Contest and author of The War That Wasn't: Religious Conflict and Compromise in the Common Schools of New York State, 1865-1900. Colin Macleod is associate professor of philosophy and law at the University of Victoria. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of several books, including Liberalism, Justice, and Markets and The Nature of Children's Well-Being.

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