Does GOD Make a Difference? Taking Religion Seriously in Our Schools and Universities (review)

In Does GOD Make a Difference? Taking Religion Seriously in Our Schools and Universities, Warren Nord (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) argues for the role of God and religion as a basis for true liberal education, primarily in America’s public secondary and higher educational systems. In fact, he argues that we should be “taking religion seriously” (p. 103).

Nord, who identifies himself as liberal in his politics and religion (pp. 6–7), speaks about the need for instruction about all religions broadly and equally as alternate worldviews coexisting and competing with the secular worldview that currently dominates education. The author presents his assertions from a historical framework that includes identifying existing religious cultural tensions and conflicts and suggesting possible solutions and their implications. He maintains that America’s liberal educational system primarily focuses on the secular perspective while ignoring the religious worldview.

Nord strongly contends that requiring programs to provide more information about religion simply from a historical perspective is not the answer; instead, a truly liberal education consists of a thorough presentation of the religious views of the world, along with the elucidation of the secular perspective. Nord challenges the public educational community to look at what it really means to have a well-rounded education. He contends that if the educational system ignores the larger questions central to religion, then it “is not worthy of respect, indeed, it shouldn’t count as educational at all” (p. 292).

Nord organizes his book in three parts. In Part 1, “Problems,” he introduces several questions to establish the basis for discussion: “Does God still matter at the beginning of the twenty-first century?” and “Does God measure up to American standards?”

He then explores the topic of secularization in our schools and presents a historical outline of contributions to that secularization. Next, he generalizes from the results of the 2006 Gallup poll, the 2007 Baylor Survey, and the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey and he reports that about 85%–90% of the population in the United States say they believe in some kind of God (p. 20). The corresponding poll conducted in 2005 by Eurobarometer reported the European figure at 52% (p. 20).

Then he provides data about and a brief discussion of several other countries, along with a description of recent major religious growth in Third World countries (p. 20). He notes the paradox of high levels of belief in God in the United States co-existing with a secularized educational system and explores some possible reasons for this pattern.

Nord also reports a slow but positive movement toward teaching about religion in public K–12 schools in the United States. He bases this conclusion on his analysis of current K–12 textbooks in history, economics, and science.

The national standards movement in the K–12 system shows promise, he says; but at present, neither public secondary schools nor universities have course requirements for religion, although there are course offerings in religion and the Bible, on a limited basis, at the university level. He further notes that “the texts and standards also demonstrate that students need to understand virtually nothing about religion to make sense of the world here and now” (p. 60).

In concluding Part 1, Nord identifies three overarching problems resulting from the lack of religion courses in public schools: (a) students are religiously illiterate, (b) the existing curricula exhibit inequality, and (c) such curricula verge on indoctrination. He argues that “making sense of the world” (p. 81) is inhibited when one worldview is emphasized over another or when other worldviews are completely left out (p. 99).

In Part 2, “Solutions,” Nord argues for “taking religion seriously” in public secondary and tertiary schools and makes several suggestions for their consideration. He explores several criteria that solutions must meet: moral responsibility, existentialism, civic debate, and constitutional deliberation. Then he discusses the probable complexities and concerns...