Religion in Education

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Eric,
I am encouraged that a student felt the need for a call to action. However, by attempting to stop the lesson, you may have missed the idea the teacher was trying to establish. This idea may have been flawed but you didn't give her a chance to establish the idea and then you would be in a better position to make up your own mind. In my experience, teachers (and people in general) feel a need to establish a line from a starting point to the point they are trying to make. It seems like Lit and religion teachers carried this to an extreme, in my mind. Unfortunately, Lit and religion are not sciences with proven facts and theorems so it is hard to establish right and wrong.
Although this has been a discussion of Christianity we must remember that the religion of Russia at the time this book was written was a hotly contested and individual struggle. Not only was the populace severely divided by class but each person struggled with the obvious inhumanity perpetrated by supposedly Christian people on the lower classes and non Christians. We also must remember that the Christianity of Russia is Orthodox and for centuries this sect was at odds with the Roman Catholic Church. This struggle resulted in millions of deaths over the centuries as people defended to the death, the right way to perform the Sign of the Cross. While Dostoevsky may have been talking of religion, you must remember that he was under scrutiny as was any writer of his time. While he struggled to do something he wanted to do, he walked a narrow line that might have got him jailed or worse. With that knowledge, the book may written with the ever present conflict of trying to say what he felt while trying staying alive.
As to your other examples, the facts are still a little too sketchy. I had a calc teacher who would give "are you here?" quizzes at his 8:00AM class. It didn't matter whether you knew what color George Washington's white horse was, as much as you were present to answer the question. The math teacher may have been trying to see who was aware of all of the questions and not trying to establish a religious link.
I feel I was lucky (blessed?!?) that my parents sent me to progressive parochial schools. One of my classes (in high school) was an investigation into the world's major religions. It is pretty interesting that they share many common ideas and stories. With a few twists and different characters, they have similar tales of Genesis, the great flood, etc. They also expound on the idea of love of neighbor. None of these beliefs preach anything about harsh treatment of the non-believers yet the major struggles and wars through the ages used religion as a basis for the initial attacks. Think of where the human race would be now had the religious leaders of those conflicts been more aware and tolerant of other religions and cultures.
FIRST is breaking down those cultural and religious boundaries. Can you imagine what will take place when Israeli and Muslim teams come together for a competition? A place where Gracious Professionalism is followed and there is a free exchange of ideas can only be good for the future of those students and mentors. I hope I can live to see a day when these fences fall.