Thesis: To battle religious intolerance and blind hate towards religions in America, religious illiteracy needs to be addressed in schools. Learning Faith, a student run organization, could educate the school community about the truth about religions, contend against misconceptions and stereotypes, and prove that learning about another faith is beneficial to one’s life.
P1: Religious intolerance and discrimination is a regular occurrence in America, from mindless bullying at school to hate crimes towards groups.
I: There are many religions being practiced in the United States, however, society is becoming more liberal, too. Religious people are sometimes discriminated based on their faith and what they practice, especially those in the smaller groups of faith.
E: “Experiences Religious Minorities in Public School Settings” - A study done showed how junior high and high school students of religious minority (Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Universalist Unitarian) were being bullied at school. Both classmates and teachers bullied through speech, intimidation, discrimination, exclusion, and physical attack. “According to FBI hate crimes statistics, there were 1,400 antireligious hate crime incidents in the United States in the year 2011” (Phillips).
S: Religious intolerance and discrimination is still going on and desperately needs to be addressed. Innocent believers are being physically and emotionally hurt every day.
P2: Religious illiteracy - the lack of knowledge on common religions - is a main cause for religious intolerance.
I: If one isn’t taught the basics of different religions, they are unaware of what others believe, practice, and especially the reasoning behind it. The religions can seem logically wrong or absurd at first, and non-believers could judge and discriminate.
E:
Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn’t - “...in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when an Indian American man was shot and killed at an Arizona gas station by a vigilante who believed the man’s turban marked him as a Muslim...who was actually a Sikh” (Canegi 16). If people were educated about the difference between a Muslim and a Sikh (and also why all Muslims aren’t terrorists), then the senseless death could have been avoided.
S: When people are educated about religions and the “absurd” ideas are clarified, they understand believers and their practices. Educated non-believers wouldn’t discriminate, and believers wouldn’t have to fear of being judged.
P3: Stereotypes and misconceptions is an effect of religious illiteracy, leading into intolerance.
I: Because of the lack of knowledge about different faiths, people can be quick to judge and misconceptions arise. The media often feeds one viewpoint - most of the time negative - while the true or consistent viewpoint is hidden away. This leads to stereotypes of religions based on tiny extremist group of the faith and leads to more intolerance.
E: “Experience Religious Minorities in Public School Settings” - “...several Catholic participants were told, ‘You don’t believe in Jesus. You pray to Mary and statues. You’ll burn in Hell!’” (Hubert). (Worship of Mary, saints, and statues is a common misconception of the Catholic Church). Common stereotypes are that Muslims are terrorists and Christians hate gays.
S: If people were more religiously literate, they would not believe in the misconceptions and stereotypes of religions. Believers would not have to worry about being associated with the extremists in their religion.
P4: Learning Faith is an organization that uses the Internet and social media to educate people about religions.
I: Using engaging material, Learning Faith can teach about different faiths of the world. For instance, infographics (images with statistics, diagrams, and symbols) can show the basics of a religion and then compare and contrast with other religions.
E: “Teaching for Religious Literacy” - while the source is about how to teach religion in schools (which is also a great solution), it gives ideas on how to educate the religious illiterate. Some points are someone has to teach the students they have, not the ones they wish they had and to reveal the assumptions that society often has (Jorge 116).
S: An engaging organization that can draw social media users to learn about religions could educate more about others’ faiths.
P5: Learning more about a different faith can positively impact oneself.
I: By learning about other people’s faith, not only does one’s knowledge about religions grow, but one can learn how to approach another kindly and respectfully. Abetter sense of religious tolerance and community in society.
E: “Interfaith Calling” - A Catholic girl started to learn about and immerse herself in the Muslim faith. Through her experiences, she made close Muslim friends, learned why Muslims believe in their faith, and learned how to have the same passion for her own faith as Muslims do for their own (Leonard).
S: Learning from another faith can benefit one’s life and maybe their own faith.