I have been corresponding a bit with Professor Eric Enlow of Handong International Law School in South Korea about the fracturing of public culture in the United States over the issue of religion. Professor Enlow, in reponse to my queries, described himself as "a midwestern evangelical Christian, although I was raised in mainline denominations and attended public school" and said he is also "a Christian homeschooler." He added: "In general, I suppose that I am a part of that amorphous 'Christian right,' which we read so much about -- although I don't always recognize myself or my friends as commonly described." (He was also kind enough to say that, "I have long appreciated your forthright manner on your blog," which must certainly put him in a distinct minority on the "Christian right"!)
Professor Enlow had called to my attention the move within the Southern Baptists to abandon the public schools altogether. I put to Professor Enlow the question what it is devout (or "fundamentalist" or "orthodox") Christians want from the public schools. His informative reply follows, though it is not one that gives me much hope for a rapprochement between the religious and the secular given the terms on which it would have to take place. I've opened comments, but will delete anonymous or rude remarks. Professor Enlow writes:
"Most U.S. Christians are theologically and, as Americans, culturally opposed to state establishment of religion. I believe that they would be content with 'neutral' public schools. (Take the Southern Baptists, the largest protestant denomination; they were persecuted for centuries for their absolute refusal to participate in or compromise with state regulation of their religion; their theology strongly supports a classically liberal attitude regarding the dangers of entrusting men with enforcement of matters of conscience).
"But Christians increasingly do not perceive primary public-school education as neutral. They think that our schools promote an agenda of values, historical understanding and national mythos that is incompatible with Christian belief (and often seemingly intended to support what is, to them, a religious philosophy of secular humanism). For example, as you know, Christians believe that nature reveals to all men a Creator-God, transcendent and worthy of the providential dominion that God exercises over the affairs and actions of men. Christians think that this truth is a central fact for the proper understanding of man and the world. Rather than presenting this as the central interpretive fact that Christians believe it to be, public schools seem to many Christians to take an active interest in suppressing or at best ignoring it. Public schools seem to them to promote the idea that the individual is the basic meaure of value and that the world lacks a transcendent order. Christians feel about the suppression of this (to them apparent) fact as many other people would feel about the suppression of the teaching of evolution in a course on biology.
"Now, I don't think that Christians and non-Christians are likely to agree on these issues. But I do think that the public schools could make some efforts to appear more neutral to Christians by focusing on areas that enjoy clear consensus in society. For example, I think that everyone can agree on math, geometry, logic, music, grammar, physics, drafting/drawing and athletics. History, literature, 'social studies,' cosmology, philosophy are very controversial and smack of indoctrination to the party losing the textbook wars. Let's leave them for higher education. If public schools backed off teaching subjects that they knew were offensive to segments of the population and concerntrated on subjects that everyone agrees are essential, I think that we could all come together. (This is why you hear lots of 'back to basics' indignation from Christians whenever a controversial sex-education initiative is introduced.)
"If such a concentration on noncontroversial sciences is impossible, then I think Christians feel that the ideas taught in public schools should reflect the beliefs of the country more fairly. As I noted above, given that an very large portion of America believes that nature reveals the transcendent order of a Creator-God, this belief should be taught respectfully as an alternative with other cosmological views. Similarly, given that most Americans believe that there is an naturally revealed objective moral order, this view should be taught as well as the more modern ethics. I just don't see practically how this can happen myself.
"Thus, if we want to save a common public education, I think that we will have to hope for a contraction on the subject areas taught in public schools."
UPDATE: Many interesting comments from readers follow, as well as a reply from Professor Enlow to several of the issues raised by the commenters. Thanks to all for the high quality of the exchange.
