Last fall I earned a Guinness World Records™ title for Visiting the Most Places of Worship in One Month. It was truly the adventure of a lifetime – exciting , rewarding, and also challenging in many different ways. While I have attended services at various places of worship for over a decade, it was a […]
Religious Literacy
Why The Odyssey Is a Religious Literacy Story
Post: Tim Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director, Religion Matters Most audiences encounter The Odyssey as an adventure story. It is a tale of monsters, shipwrecks, warfare, temptation, endurance, and one man’s long struggle to return home. Odysseus confronts the Cyclops, resists the Sirens, descends into the underworld, and survives the anger of the sea. Those elements [...]
Seeing Jerusalem Is Not Understanding Jerusalem
Most approaches to religious literacy focus on beliefs, practices, and traditions. This work matters, but it is incomplete. Drawing on Calvary, this piece explores what happens when religion is encountered as lived experience—shaped by trust, trauma, and moral complexity—and what that means for how we prepare students to understand religion in the real world.
What We Leave Out: Lived Religion and the Limits of Religious Literacy
Most approaches to religious literacy focus on beliefs, practices, and traditions. This work matters, but it is incomplete. Drawing on Calvary, this piece explores what happens when religion is encountered as lived experience—shaped by trust, trauma, and moral complexity—and what that means for how we prepare students to understand religion in the real world.
Beyond Compliance: Supporting Religious Expression in Public Schools
Post: Tim Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director, Religion Matters When the Law Speaks, Educators Still Must Teach Last month, the U.S. Department of Education released updated guidance on constitutionally protected prayer and religious expression in public schools. As expected, the response has been wide-ranging, with some seeing clarity and others uncertainty. That range itself [...]
