Is Ignorance Truly Bliss?

Faith in the Public Square
Lompoc Record
June 10, 2007

When it comes to religion, is ignorance bliss? If polling numbers can be believed, a goodly number of Americans must believe this to be true. Apparently our nation's vaunted religiosity may be substance-free.

We believe in God in great numbers, but most of us, even those who are regular attendees, know little about the doctrinal foundations of our traditions. Boston University Religious Studies professor Stephen Prothero finds these reports to be deeply disturbing.

“If,” he writes, “religion is this important, we ought to know something about it, particularly in a democracy, in which political power is vested in voters” (Religious Literacy, Harper San Francisco, p. 5). Prothero concludes that we are a “nation of Biblical illiterates,” and this can be dangerous.

It may seem insignificant that only a third of Americans know that Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, that a majority of Americans believe that Jesus was born in Jerusalem, or that 10 percent of Americans think that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife!

It would be insignificant if it was just a matter of knowing trivia, but because partisans on all sides appeal to religion, and more specifically to the Bible, in support of their positions, it becomes a much more important issue. For, while a wall may separate church and state, the political debates in this country are frequently framed in moral and religious terms. So, if we don't know what our traditions believe and teach on such issues as immigration, homosexuality, abortion, the environment, poverty, and immigration, how can we make informed decisions? That is, unless religion is private and has nothing to do with the way I live in public.

In recent years, the Republican Party has been identified by the majority of voters as the party of moral values, while the Democratic Party is seen by many as secular and unfriendly to religion. That may be changing as all three leading Democratic presidential candidates are very vocal about how their faith influences their political life and outreach is being made by the party to religious leaders.

Religious literacy plays an important role in helping us discern whether the positions of a party are in line with the teachings of our faith. For example, Jesus appealed to Isaiah and claimed that his ministry was directed at “bringing good news to the poor ... release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” (Luke 4:18) Which party best reflects these concerns of Jesus? Although in recent years the word moral has largely been used in reference to issues relating to sex - abstinence education, abortion, and homosexuality -- aren't issues like health care, war, torture, and poverty moral issues? If so, then which party or candidate reflects best the views of one's faith tradition?

The upcoming election cycle is sure to see the regular invoking of religion and it might help to know something about the religious backgrounds of the candidates. Barak Obama, for instance, is a member of a large black congregation affiliated with the United Church of Christ and Hillary Clinton is a United Methodist. Mike Huckabee, a GOP candidate, is a Southern Baptist pastor, while Mitt Romney is a Mormon, a religious group many Christians consider cultic or at least strange. Although being Roman Catholic is no longer an impediment to higher office, that church takes very strong positions on politically charged issues.

Ignorance may be bliss, but we live in an age when ignorance of our own faith and the faiths of others is a problem. There is need for education. The question is where to get it? Stephen Prothero has an answer to that question, but it's quite controversial. He suggests that our schools add courses in Bible and Comparative Religion to our curriculum. Critics charge that such a solution is unconstitutional, but as Prothero points out, what is unconstitutional is sectarian and devotional teaching of religion, not an objective/scholarly teaching about religion. Such instruction won't be the same as what you get in Sunday school! That of course might be a problem for others who want a stronger, more sectarian strain of religious teaching.

Religious instruction like this would take trained and objective teachers. It would also require a community that is supportive of a non-sectarian, non-devotional study of religion. Of course there's the additional problem of space in the curriculum - if you insert one thing something else will have to be jettisoned. But, if an understanding of the basic elements of religion is essential to our civic life, then perhaps we should consider such a proposal. Churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques must do a better job of teaching their faith, but that simply won't cover all the bases if we're to be a truly educated people who live in a properly ordered democracy.

Dr. Bob Cornwall is Pastor of First Christian Church and can be reached at lompocdisciples@impulse.net or P.O. Box 1056, Lompoc, CA 93438.

June 10, 2007