Group Differences Forum

I really enjoyed all of the group discussion forums as a whole, but my topic of religion is one that I took much personal interest in.  I think the discussion went over really well, and the class responded well to the topic.  The class seemed to understand that education and religion can come together without controversy.  With the specific article that I read (Marginalization of Religion by Spencer Boudreau), I found myself agreeing with all of what he said.  Boudreau argued that religion is seen as a negative, regressive thing by academia and media.  When religion is discussed, it is usually portrayed in a negative light, or only the negative stories related to religions are presented.  I have seen those situations myself.  I think that there is a way to teach religion without the negativity and that it should not be a taboo topic.  Being a future social studies teacher, I will have to talk about religion in my classroom.  When talking specifically about religion, theology should be the focus.  Students can be taught the basics of what different religions believe.  When talking about historical topics, students can learn about groups or individuals in history that did certain things in the name of religion, good or bad.  The important part with historical topics is to point out to the students that those people claimed to be acting for their religion, but that their actions should not be taken as a reflection of the theology of their religion.