✍️ A Resolution for Dialogue: Centering Religious Literacy in Civic Education

Post: Tim Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director, Religion Matters

When religion enters the classroom, fear often follows. But it doesn’t have to. For many educators, religion feels like a boundary line they’d rather not cross: too controversial, too personal, too risky. But the truth is that religion is already present in our classrooms in history, geography, literature, civic life, and in the lived identities of our students. What’s missing isn’t content.

It is clarity, confidence, and constitutionally grounded guidance for how to teach about religion academically, accurately, and inclusively.
This is the heart of the resolution I submitted to the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) House of Delegates: a call to reaffirm that religious literacy is not just permitted in public education. It is essential to civic education.

The Tension: Religion in Schools Feels Risky

Across my work with teachers, I hear the same concerns:

• “What if I say the wrong thing?”
• “How do I teach about religion without violating the First Amendment?”
• “What if someone complains?”

These fears are understandable. Religion has long been at the center of public debates about curriculum, rights, and identity, and educators are often caught in the crossfire. But avoiding religion doesn’t protect students. It leaves them unequipped to understand the beliefs, histories, and motivations that shape the world around them. In today’s global society, religious literacy isn’t a “nice-to-have” — it’s civic preparation.

Clarifying the Academic & Constitutional Approach

There is a well-established, legally sound framework for teaching about religion in public schools.

Two guideposts anchor this work:

Guidelines aligned with the First Amendment

Public school teachers may teach about religion academically, not devotionally.

This means:

• The public schools’ approach to the study of religion must be academic, not devotional.
• The public school should strive for student awareness of religion’s role in history and society, but do not press for student acceptance or rejection of any religion.
• Public schools sponsor study of religion, not the practice of religion.
• Public schools expose students to a wide range of religious views but do not impose any particular view.
• The public school curriculum educates about a variety of religions but does not promote or denigrate any religion.
• Public school teachers inform students about various religious and nonreligious beliefs but do not seek to make students conform to o reject any particular belief. (Haynes, 2024, p. 17)

The Freedom Forum affirms that teaching about religion is not only permissible but also essential. It is part of a strong civic education.

National Council for the Social Studies Position Statements and the Religious Studies Companion Document to the C3 Framework

The NCSS has long supported rigorous, academic instruction about religion as part of responsible citizenship.

Key principles include:

• fostering respect for diverse beliefs
• grounding instruction in evidence, inquiry, and context
• maintaining religious neutrality
• promoting constitutional literacy

When taught through inquiry — the C3 Framework’s strength — students learn to analyze how beliefs shape cultures, decisions, conflicts, and cooperation. This is not teaching students what to believe. It is teaching them how belief systems shape our shared human experience.

Invitation: Join the Conversation

While the co-sponsorship window has closed, the conversation has not. The vote will take place on December 4 at the NCSS Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., and I hope this resolution helps spark deeper dialogue in our field.

If you are a teacher, leader, or policymaker, I invite you to:

• read the resolution,
• reflect on the role of religious literacy in your context,
• and consider how inquiry can open doors for understanding.

Our students deserve a curriculum that prepares them not just to know the world, but to engage it — thoughtfully, respectfully, and with a commitment to dialogue. Because when students understand difference, democracy grows stronger.

Promoting Religious Literacy Education as an Essential Component of Social Studies Education
👉 Read the Full Resolution

References

• Haynes, C. C. (2024). Religion and public schools: A First Amendment guide. Freedom Forum.
• National Council for the Social Studies. (2017). Religious studies companion document for the C3 framework. NCSS

AI Disclosure

Portions of this post were supported by generative tools such as ChatGPT (GPT-4) and Grammarly for organization and language refinement. All ideas, interpretations, and final edits reflect my own professional judgment, classroom experience, and commitment to thoughtful, inclusive, and inquiry-based social studies education.