Faith-Based Doctrine, Law, and Policy and Social Education Reform (original) (raw)

International Journal of Educational Reform

civil rights-and for imposing limitations on children's access to knowledge about the undeniably complex nature of their psychological and physiological well-being. While law and policy does not yet discriminate against specific religions in determining which faith-based groups receive funding for their school and community programs, the most dominant religious voices in assisting lawmakers draft faith-based doctrine into legislation have been Christian Protestants. Given their political influence, those particular religious voices may be more likely than others in successfully competing for faith-based funding. Indeed, John J. DiIulio, Jr., 1 director of the newly established Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, has already defined a telling White House position this year by promising certain lobbyists that "the president would not allow financing for the Nation of Islam's programs" (quoted in Kaminer, 2001, p. D1). In addition, other minority religions that may eventually be exempted from funding are the B'nai Brith, the Church of Christ, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Unification Church, all of which the White House is being pressured to exclude from funding because leaders of our nation's major religions want them classified as cults exempted from funding (Kaminer, 2001). Such proposals, if enacted as federal policy, may exacerbate religious tensions in a country that has tendentiously prided itself for its exercise of religious tolerance. Thus we hope that the humor in an editorial cartoon in the Atlanta Constitution remains just that, humor. In that cartoon, a couple watching a news report on television comment, "Competition's fierce for funds in Bush's faith-based initiative," as the reporter states, "Bloodshed between Muslims and Jews, Catholics and Protestants are poised for more violence" (Luckovich, 2001). On the other hand, the doctrine of child-benefit, as discussed above, will surely be provided as an argument advocating the use of funds as direct support of children, regardless of the religious context of delivery. This "balancing" argument will also be noted clearly in the national discourse on vouchers and voucher education. A search of ERIC documents and academic journals reveals a paucity of research involving faith-based doctrine, law, and policy and their potential for impact on public education and in all matters of curriculum reform. The subject matter appears so fresh that a corpus of substantive research is as yet unavailable. As a studied legal issue, faith-based law and policy represent areas directly untried in the recent courts, although in this article we document one dispute in Broward County, Florida, involving parental demand for the county to update its sexuality and health education programs to reflect a new state statute calling for "abstinence-only-until-marriage" curricula. Because the plaintiffs reached a settlement with the school board, the U.S. district judge dismissed the case. Our American heritage informs us that faith-based doctrine converted into law and policy has always been a visceral point of contention in our nation.