America: Home of the Ignorant, Land of the Intolerant

Many would agree the United States of America is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the developed world. Thanks to the promise of freedom and a better life, people from all over the world have immigrated to the US, bringing with them not only their cultures but their religions as well. Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, all forms of Christianity, the Baha’i Faith, Native American faiths, Jainism, Druidry, New Age spirituality: this is only a short list of religions one can discover in this nation.

Also, only 16% of the country considers themselves to be atheist or to have no religion. Nearly 60% of Americans consider themselves to be ‘very religious’ while roughly 40% say they attend worship services twice a week.

However, despite this vast array of different religions and the fact that many Americans are religious, a survey published late last year indicated Americans have little knowledge about dissimilar religions. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published the results of a survey consisting of thirty-two multiple choice questions about the basics of several religions. On average, Americans correctly answered sixteen questions for an average score of 50%. The results showed that large numbers of Americans are unknowledgeable about basic tenets, practices, history, and leading figures in major faiths.

These three facts – that the US is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the developed world, sixty percent of the population considers themselves to be religious, and the lack of religious knowledge – creates the stage for potentially serious religious conflicts. According to the Pew Forum’s survey, most Americans are ignorant in regards to even the basics of religions that are not their own. Unfortunately, there seems to be a correlation between the level of ignorance and level of intolerance; the higher the level of ignorance, the higher the level of intolerance.

If someone does not know about a religion, they might begin to harbor a fear towards followers of the religion. Intolerance can quickly grow from this hidden (or open) fear. As others start to experience increasing intolerance, it begins to spread beyond the original person or group of persons until the problem is wide-spread and discrimination sets in.

One current example in the US is Islam and the general American view of Muslims. Thirty-eight percent of the US population holds an unfavorable view of Islam, up from 36% in 2005; only 30% of the population holds a favorable view of Islam, down from 41% in 2005.

The problem is not that Muslims are bad people or Islam is a bad faith, although Western media would say otherwise. Rather, the problem stems from a lack of knowledge, and more often than not, a lack of the truth. Most Americans may think they are highly knowledgeable about Islam, simply because they hear so much about it in the media. But the truth is, what they hear may not be correct, or at least not completely correct. Western media often portrays Islam in a manner that is not consistent with the basic teachings of the faith. Therefore, to take what one hears from such a source can result in incorrect knowledge of Islam and thus, intolerance towards Muslims.

The above mentioned survey indicates Americans do not understand the basics of a faith, let alone understanding beyond that. In the West, the only way to truly learn about Islam is in an unbiased, educational setting. This may be true for any religion, not only Islam. Unfortunately, there are few places in the US that offer such a location to learn about different faiths. Colleges and universities may offer classes, but not everyone attends a university or college that offers comparative religion or basic religion classes. Also, the Pew Forum’s survey indicated the more schooling one has, the more they know about religion.

There are probably many, more effective, ways to solve this issue of ignorance leading to intolerance. However, one possibility is requiring comparative religion classes in high school, or at least working it into the curriculum of another course. While public schools are allowed by law to have comparative religion courses, very few actually have such a class as an elective and even fewer – if any – require it. Students and teachers are always pushing for courses that concentrate on basic life skills: changing a tire, finding a job, cooking a meal, etc. Yet, few of them push for a course that teaches students about something so important to Americans as religion.

What high schools need is a class focusing on the basic tenets and practices of the major US religions. In this way they would learn at an early age what faiths beyond their own teach. Therefore the variable of ignorance would be removed or at the very least reduced. This might make way for increased tolerance and less discrimination. Would not a course about religion, taught in a nonbiased, nonproselytistic way, help correct some of the incorrect perceptions of certain religions Americans currently hold?

Only when we begin to approach the issue of religious ignorance will we begin to destroy the walls intolerance has created between different religions as well as Americans and religion in general. Because the US is such a religiously diverse country and so many people hold religion to be very important, peace can only come from an increased knowledge of different faiths and decreased religious fallacies. Through knowledge comes understanding, and through understanding comes peace.