Thinking About Religion From a Global Perspective

Lesson plan ideas

Target audiences.  This curriculum unit has been developed for, and used by, public high school students.  However, it is very suitable for other audiences: adult education classes (where it also has been used) and self-instructional resources for adults.  Parents with teenagers would find this very useful for their families or in small family groups apart from a formal class setting. For this reason, we could surely call this "Thinking About Religion: 101".  Students will find these resources highly objective and unbiased.

A brief overview of the resources

The curriculum resources consist of the following three documents.

1. Thinking About Religion From a Global Perspective (56 pages) which is intended for students (youth and adults) consists of eight chapters:

-- The Religious View of Life -- looks at the history of religions, Eastern religions and Western religions.

-- New Religions -- presents a view of what sometimes are referred to as charismatic religions.

-- Guidelines - for example: checking out a group's beliefs before becoming emotionally attached, maintaining a balanced lifestyle, being careful about joining a movement that is the personal instrument of one or a few individuals, and proceeding slowly and with care.

-- Religion and Morality - raises many thought-provoking questions including these two: Must people hate in order to love?  Must we have promises of eternal rewards and (perhaps) punishment to be "good" on this earth?

-- Religion and Science - addresses (and responds to) important questions such as: What is science? Are religion and science in conflict? Does science support a god-concept? Will science replace religion?

-- Religion and Human Life - deals with the beginnings of life and the concept of the soul, defining "human life", issues of ending human life, and religion and human sexual expression.

-- A Historical Review -- includes brief sections on humanity and religion and humanity and secularism.

-- Getting Together - is designed "to stimulate thinking about our loyalties as they relate to religious and/or secular life views.  This concluding chapter raises many questions including: How important is another's god-view if we share worldly goals? How best can we achieve livable societies on earth? The resource ends with these two brief paragraphs:

"Secular people probably will not be impressed by Eastern or Western "god-talk." But they can still value the life-transforming capability of religion that may have a positive impact on their own lives. Moreover, they can appreciate the music, literature, dance, sculpture, painting and other artistic achievements that have grown out of religious fervor.

"Enlarging the scope of our thinking is a primary goal of education."

... to which I would say to the last sentence, "amen".  But there is more: a 51 item annotated bibliography with books of such writers as Karen Armstrong, Corliss Lamont, James Randi, Carl Sagan, and Huston Smith.

2. Teacher's Manual (26 pages), obviously intended for the instructor, whomever she or he might be, consists of the following four parts:

-- Defining Religion/Western Orientation - provides additional background information on and defines the term "religion"

-- Teaching and Believing - raise many important issues, e. g., non-biased instruction, dealing with "abhorrent" religious practices such as female seclusion and submission to males, and dealing with religious conflict.

-- Important Distinctions - provides additional information and insights on religion and morality, religion and folk belief, religion and methods of persuasion, and group factual assumptions and scientifically-oriented scholarship. This section ends a page called "True Believer" Organizations: Questions to Ask", i.e., 15 "Questions to Ask Ourselves before becoming deeply involved."

-- Teaching Tools - This section is most valuable when the resources are used in formal class settings. Objectives are provided as are resources, classroom procedures, assessments, 12 discussion questions, a three-part quiz, suggestions for using the Analysis Materials booklet, using primary documents (e.g., comparing creations stories; comparing flood stories; comparing the birth and death stories of Gautama, Jesus and Muhammad); an essay test, memorizing, writing, thinking, and evaluating student progress (if these resources are to be used in formal settings).

3. Analysis Materials: Case Studies, Single Page Analyses, Illustrations (55 pages plus an extensive Addenda) is worth the price of admission itself! For here you will find three comprehensive case studies (with thought-provoking questions) on new age religion, religion and exercising influences, and beginning and change in religion. There also are 30 single page analysis topics on a wide variety of issues (e. g., Native American religions, understanding the Tao, the nature of Hindu gods, Karma, pantheism, reincarnation, good and evil, the origin of supernatural stories, holy books, critical thinking and holy books, secular views on "universal truth", new religions, individual freedom vs. group religious freedom, religion and evolutionary development, changes in the Western concepts of god, religion and science (from several perspectives), and many more. The section ends with a one-page discussion of the questions "can religion and science be interwoven?"  The next section is "Illustrations" - visual art of life-centering symbols, images of the soul, pantheism and dualism, etc. Lastly, an Addenda includes information on African religions, shamanic religion, treating another person's religion fairly, religion and fundamentalism, religion and women, Christian belief and abortion policy, and faith healing and children's illnesses - to cite just a few of the topics.  Many of the items in Analysis Materials include the extensive use of primary resources which is why we stated that this booklet alone is "worth the price of admission". Having so many primary sources under one cover will save the readers a great deal of time ... not having to "google" so many sources.

Objectives and suggested procedures. The primary objective of this curriculum unit, from a Humanist perspective, is to understand the meaning, scope and positive affirmations of Humanism. It is important to view the Humanist lifestance in the context of historical religions and religious beliefs. The teaching procedures are self-evident. Use the first and third booklets listed above as you would any text material. The main decision is to determine the amount of time to be spent in instruction - whether it is for an entire class, one or two students, or yourself.

Feedback.   Please let us know how this went... and please suggest any additional ideas for teaching the concepts in these resources.  I would be most grateful if you would send them to me at - rbhaerman@americanhumanist.org.  Many thanks in advance.    

Bob Bhaerman, Coordinator, Kochhar Humanist Education Center,

American Humanist Association