Isolated by Spirituality

We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.” (http://www.fsg.org.au/about-us/social-justice/ )

As the holiday season approaches, I always allot part of my art class to a discussion about the different holidays the children celebrate so I can make sure my curriculum includes every student’s beliefs.  Students eagerly share their family’s holiday traditions in great detail with huge smiles as they recall wonderful memories of last year’s celebrations… usually.  This year was different.  When I asked one child what holiday she celebrated she responded with a hesitant “Yule” and refused to expand on what Yule was and how her family celebrated.  I know this child well and she is typically very outgoing and talkative so I decided to talk to her mom and see if she could help me understand the holiday and her daughter’s reluctance to share her traditions with the class.  Her mom responded to my inquiry with, “oh my God, she hasn’t started up with that again has she?”  As it turns out, her family celebrates the Pagan holiday of Yule and when her daughter mentioned it at her prior school parents “went crazy”.  Thus far she has tried to keep her daughter from “coming out of the broom closet” now that she is in a new school.  So, I have a five year old child in my classroom who is terrified to admit that she celebrates a Pagan holiday for fear of being alienated by the entire class because she doesn’t believe in the “reason for the season”…Jesus.  Is this how people in this country view freedom of religion?  You are free to believe in things I am comfortable with???  In the book Bold as Love the author writes, “Some people fear exposing their children to people of different religions.  They’re afraid they might either become attracted to the other faith, or turn away from God because no one can agree on religion.  That has not been my experience.  If anything, it may keep them strong in the faith, especially when they do leave home.”  If social justice is about equality and fairness between human beings, how can I, as a teacher, make sure that all students in my classroom, including those who are Pagan or Muslim or Christian or Jewish or Atheist, are treated fairly and not isolated because they don’t share a belief in the dominant faith?   I found the following guidelines for religious freedom on The Center for Public Justice’s website (http://www.cpjustice.org/content/religious-freedom ):

Religious Freedom

1. Created in the image of God, humans bear ultimate responsibility to their Creator. No human authority can stand in the position of God or otherwise establish the terms of human responsibility to God. For this reason, the constitution, or basic law, of a political community should recognize and protect the religious freedom of citizens.

2. The religion of some people may be only a matter of worship or private conviction. The religion of others may entail obligations to serve their neighbors, educate their children, and carry out their work and civic duties as part of an entire way of life in obedience to God. Whatever the case, government does not have the authority to define true religion and thus must protect the religious freedom of all citizens.

3. Government therefore does not have the authority to establish an official religion. If all citizens should be free to practice their religions, then government’s establishment of one religion or one kind of religion would contradict the principle of equal treatment of all citizens.

4. Religious freedom entails not only freedom of conscience and worship; it also includes the right of citizens to conduct themselves in public life without legal or financial discrimination due to their religion. Public justice thus requires equal treatment of citizens in both the public and private practice of religion. 

5. Equal treatment of citizens with regard to religion entails two additional prohibitions:

•    First, there must be no privileging of secularism or of anti-religion in the public square. That would be to discriminate unjustly against public religions.

•    Second, there must be no discrimination against those who make no religious profession or who are antagonistic toward religion. Such discrimination would mean the unjust privileging of the convictions of some citizens over others.

6. Governments bear responsibility to uphold the peace and welfare of the political community. Therefore, they have authority both to prohibit certain actions that degrade or destroy human life and to restrict conduct that disrupts public concord. These legitimate acts of government must apply universally to all citizens. On occasion, therefore, governments may be obligated to restrain or prohibit certain practices even though some citizens consider them proper to the exercise of their religions.

I think these “rules” provide a good framework to ensure freedom of religion for everyone including Pagans and Atheists.  In the case of the student in my class the following seems to apply: there must be no discrimination against those who make no religious profession or who are antagonistic toward religion. Such discrimination would mean the unjust privileging of the convictions of some citizens over others.  We have no right to challenge the spirituality of other people or make them feel ashamed of their own beliefs.  I have met plenty of God-fearing people who attend church every Sunday who make morally questionable decisions on the other six days of the week.  I also know atheists who believe in the importance of living a good life, respecting and protecting the lives of other people and creatures and understand the right of others to believe differently without having to defend their beliefs.

Getting back to the student in my class…  After speaking privately with her mother, it became clear to me that she wanted to keep her spiritual beliefs private to avoid any confrontations with other parents.  She and I brainstormed some ideas that would allow her daughter to see her beliefs honored and acknowledged without causing friction.  Her daughter has a strong connection with nature, which is an important part of Yule, so we are celebrating the winter solstice and making snowflakes as part of our Holiday celebrations.  I wish we could do more to include this child, but I understand her apprehension and given her daughter’s reaction to the plans I think we have taken a small step toward making her feel accepted. 

As teachers I think social justice means we need to “go the extra mile” to learn about our students and find ways to make sure every student in our classroom is treated fairly, included and treated as a valuable part of the classroom family.