Provides historical information on religious freedom within the United States and the meaning of constitutional order. Discusses how different religious minority groups, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, and the Native Americans, used strategies of balance to abide by the constitutional order. (CMK)

Participation in the Freedom Forum's California 3 R's project enabled The Ramona School District to find workable solutions to contentious religious issues without damaging the integrity of those involved. A sidebar outlines Ramona's board policy on student and staff rights and responsibilities, school calendars, religion in the curriculum,…

The United States Institute of Peace held a two day workshop titled "Teaching about the Religious Other" on March 3-4, 2005. The sixteen workshop participants were professors experienced in teaching those of one Abrahamic faith about another Abrahamic faith either in U.S. classrooms or abroad. The purpose of the workshop was to enable these…

Provides a survey of various Internet sites that focus on the religious practices in modern China (People's Republic of China) listing such sites as: (1) the China Daily Web site; (2) the U.S. Department of State online documents; and (3) the Web site for Human Rights in China. (CMK)

Considers the religious rights of prison and jail inmates and discusses the role of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that was passed in 1993 granting people greater rights to practice their religion. Proposes an instructional idea where students discuss the benefits and challenges of allowing inmates to practice their religions within an…

Asserts that the pressures on religious freedom are increasing especially in relation to the issue of religion in the public schools. Focuses on school prayer, the use of school facilities for religious activities, and the controversy surrounding school vouchers. Addresses when religious expression is permitted in public schools. (CMK)

In the decade and a half after the Civil War, the American public school rose and fell as a central issue in national and state politics. After a relative calm on matters of education during and immediately after the War, the Republican Party and Catholic Church leaders in the late 1860s and early 1870s joined a bitter battle of words over the…

This article address the legal and constitutional issues surrounding how far school leaders can go in restricting distribution of materials that are viewed as religious in nature. Does restricting the student's right to distribute the flyer amount to a suppression of free speech based on content? Does the principal's action constitute unlawful…

Cites numerous examples used by a pro-evolutionist in debate with the creationists associated with the Institute for Creation Research and the Creation Research Society. (CS)

In 1990, a new ultraconservative religious group in San Diego County began an all-out war on public education. This article describes mainstream efforts to combat curriculum challenges and "stealth" board election tactics devised by Citizens for Excellence in Education and other fundamentalist factions. Meanwhile, the new CEE-majority…

Steps away from where a concrete wall once divided this city east from west, a group of Muslim 1st graders at E.O. Plauen Elementary School sing a phrase that is unfamiliar to most German ears. Though the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches have long provided voluntary religion classes in Berlin schools, only recently have the courts allowed an…

Reviews research findings of the various effects of ongoing violence and social problems on Protestant and Catholic working class children in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A summer vacation program in which Northern Ireland children visit the U.S. is described. Current research to study this program and problems related to cross-cultural research is…

On May 3-4, 2003, the Foreign Policy Research Institute held its tenth History Institute for Teachers. Forty-two teachers from fourteen states participated in a weekend of lectures and seminars, featuring seven outstanding scholars. Although Muslims define themselves and the Christian West in terms of religion, Western countries view relations…

Discusses Superintendent Calvin Asbury's campaign to convert members of the Crow Tribe to Christianity. Presents Joe Medicine Crow, who was a child during the campaign that began in 1919, as he describes the historical and continuing effects on the Tribe. Explains that federal policy included selling tribal lands to non-Indians, prohibiting…

Examines the effects of wartime trauma on the artistic expression of 35 Bosnian and Croatian children, ages 4-12. Discusses their cognitive development in terms of the Intuitive-Symbolic and Concrete-Operative levels. Includes four examples of representative paintings. (MJP)