Have a Little Faith

In Have a Little Faith historian Benjamin Justice and political philosopher Colin Macleod explore the complex and contentious relationship between religion and democracy in American public schools. Despite their different academic orientations, they reach a common conclusion: Public schooling can and should be a site for fostering mutual understanding between different faith perspectives, and for the creation of a public with shared values of reasonable compromise and reasoned discourse. In order to do that, they believe, Americans need to rethink the place of religion and democracy in our public schools. After some helpful background, the authors analyze three critical areas of religious controversy in public education today: student-led religious observances in extracurricular activities; the tension between the freedom of student expression and the need for safe, inclusive environments; and the shift from democratic, public control of schools to loosely regulated charter and voucher programs. These analyses show that resolving religious controversies in public schools must proceed from an informed understanding of the role of public schools as legitimate sites of civic education, where children learn to become reasonable citizens of a religiously pluralistic society.