Impact
Why now?
Religious literacy is timely and important because mass shootings in religious institutions are on the rise in the United States and abroad. After 50 Muslims were killed in Christchurch, New Zealand, a speaker at a vigil in Mount Prospect asked, “why does this keep happening?” She answered her own question, saying “because we have done nothing.” Religious literacy education through public high schools is an important step towards stopping violence due to religious prejudice, bigotry, and white supremacy in the United States.
Nonetheless, new approaches in public education often take time to be accepted by the general public, especially with regards to religion. TEACHING ABOUT RELIGION offers an inside view of the World Religions class for parents and teachers across the United States and invites them to be part of the cultural shift of academic study of religion in public schools.
How to take action
The Harvard Religious Literacy Project offers free teacher trainings to educators across the country who are interested in religious literacy in their classrooms—led by Dr. Moore and John Camardella. This documentary can help scale this free curriculum to other potentially hesitant high schools around the country.