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  • From: Steven Champeon <schampeo AT hesketh.com>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Today's Supreme Court Ruling
  • Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 11:29:55 -0500

on Thu, Feb 26, 2004 at 07:52:12AM -0500, Michael Czeiszperger wrote:
> The question before the supreme court was not "can the state fund
> religious education?" The question this time around was wether the
> state *must* fund religious education for ministers and clergy, and the
> answer to that is "no".

It's worth pointing out that there is a large difference between the
training of the clergy and the study of religion (often called "comparitive
religion").

In the former case, you're indoctrinated into a closed system of
beliefs, with very little exposure to critical thinking beyond how to
defend attacks on your own religion's beliefs, with a smattering of "and
this is what the heathen thinks". The most you can expect is a thorough
review of other world religions, especially if you're in a group with a
missionary history, but again, it's within the confines of the dogmatic.

In the latter, if you're not taking the same classes at the same school,
anyway, the focus is on the use of modern disciplines such as sociology,
psychology, anthropology, linguistics, etc. to determine the histories,
commonalities and differences between various religious groups and
practices, in order to derive the basis for religious beliefs and
encourage dialogue between people of different faiths rather than
division on doctrinal grounds. (And, of course, because it's academia,
there is a fair share of silly Continental philosophy, postmodernism, and
other pointless wastes of paper).

I'm all for the latter being funded by the state, and hope that this
ruling doesn't cloud the difference between scientific (or even pseudo-
scientific) inquiry on the one hand, and mysticism cloaked in doxology
and dogma on the other. I only wish that some of the former class had a
chance to read some of what is taught in the latter. They might not be
so difficult to talk to.

Steve,
B.A., Religious Studies, Syracuse University, 1992.

--
hesketh.com/inc. v: (919) 834-2552 f: (919) 834-2554 w: http://hesketh.com
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