Consensus Statement: Teaching About Religion in Public Schools

ReligionAndPublicLife.com was inspired by the life’s work of Dr. Charles C. Haynes and the national consensus statements he curated. These statements were endorsed by twenty-one national education, civil liberties, and religious groups disseminated by the U.S. Department of Education in 2000 to every public school in the country. We have amended this consensus statement by replacing the term “the school” with “our” and “we” as follows:

▸ Our approach to religion is academic, not devotional; 

▸ We strive for student awareness of religions, but does not press for student acceptance of any religion; 

▸ We sponsor the study about religion, not the practice of religion; 

▸ We expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may not impose any particular view; 

▸ We educate about all religions, we do not promote or denigrate any religion; 

▸ We inform students about religious beliefs, it does not seek to conform students to any particular belief.