The Problem Of the 21st Century

W.E.B. DuBois wrote in 1903 that “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” While the legacy of slavery and racial discrimination persists in the United States to the present day, the “color-line” that DuBois experienced has clearly been broken. It appears that the problem of the 21st century – and for as far into the future as any of us can project – is the problem of religion, specifically the conflicts stemming from religious differences and zealotry.On the world stage, murderous Islamic fanaticism threatens the foundations of modern civilization. In the United States, the religious problem has different faces, depending on the eyes of the beholder. To secular liberals, the religious problem is caused by the rise of fundamentalism, which appears dangerous to those who prefer reason to faith. To religious conservatives, the religious problem is the social chaos of a society that has abandoned its moral and ethical heritage. We simultaneously see a fear of religion and a fear that religion is under siege.This suggests that the religious problem of the United States today is the result of clashing faiths that somehow must learn to live together in a society where there is no longer a single dominant faith tradition. The question that befuddles us almost on a daily basis, whether considering a Supreme Court nominee or the latest controversy over teaching evolution, is the extent to which religious expression should be either banished from the public square of any free expression.Two new books make clear we are nowhere near any resolution of these debates. John Gibson, a newscaster at Fox News, is angry and wants to take back Christmas from those who are banning it. Kevin Hasson, the founder of the libertarian Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, lays out compelling historical evidence to support his arguments for religious pluralism.Mr. Gibson’s book, “The War on Christmas” (Sentinel HC, 256 pages, $24.95), is written in the breezy voice of a newscaster. It consists of anecdotes about efforts to ban Christmas, Santa Claus, or any form of Christian religious expression from public places, especially from public schools. He describes schools where the Christmas holidays have been turned into the “winter break” or the “winter holidays,” where Christmas trees are considered offensive, where the colors red and green are banished from the lunchroom for fear that they will suggest the forbidden holiday, where even students are forbidden to express any religious opinions.In one chapter, he describes what happened in Maplewood, N.J., when the school district canceled a trip to see a dramatic presentation of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” because it contained “religious content.” The same district banned even instrumental versions of Christmas carols in the public schools, because of their religious connotations. The superintendent of schools, who has a history of similar actions in other school districts, worries that any acknowledgement of Christmas would hurt the feelings of non-Christian students. Mr. Gibson calls him a “serial Christmas killer.”Writing about communities as diverse as Plano, Texas, Mustang, Okla., and Covington, Ga., Mr. Gibson describes how public officials, fearing litigation by the American Civil Liberties Union, quickly caved in when anyone complained about a reference to Christmas. Mr. Gibson finds it puzzling that promoters of diversity and tolerance are so eager to ban anything that is associated with Christmas or Christianity.Mr. Hasson’s book, “The Right To Be Wrong” (Encounter Books, 159 pages, $25.95), is an altogether more serious endeavor, an engaging and forceful brief on behalf of free religious expression. In contrast to the ACLU, which seeks to rid the public square of religious expression, Mr. Hasson wants every person and group to be able to freely celebrate their religious traditions as they choose and wherever they choose, so long as they do not pose a danger to anyone else. And he brings a sharp and witty perspective to current debates about the culture war over religious expression.Mr. Hasson divides the activists in the debate into two camps, which he labels “Pilgrims” and “Park Rangers.” The Pilgrims are zealots who believe (like the original Pilgrims) that their faith is the only one that should be officially recognized; clearly in the United States today, the Pilgrims are a diminishing minority, with no ability to win court cases or public opinion. The Park Rangers object to any display of religion in public, and demand – mostly successfully – that courts and public officials ban or censor or remove any reference to religion in schools, parks, public spaces, and sometimes even private property.Mr. Hasson’s basic argument is that free expression of religion must be a right, not a grant of tolerance that can be withdrawn or restricted by government. His historical overview of the treatment of religious heretics, dissidents, and minorities shows they just can’t help themselves: Their conscience compels them to be who they are and to believe what they believe. Just as people have a conscience, they also have a human need for community, and it is wrong, he argues, to try to compel people to celebrate or express their religious traditions in private.Mr. Hasson holds that government should neither endorse nor suppress religious expression. Instead, it should promote “an authentic pluralism that allows all faiths into the public square – where the government’s own cultural efforts reflect those of the people and the communities it serves.” The courts, Mr. Hasson explains, have misinterpreted the First Amendment, which includes this key phrase: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Unfortunately, the two parts of this phrase are often in conflict, since what some consider “free exercise” of religion has often been interpreted as an “establishment” of religion.If a public school holds a Christmas pageant, are the school officials trying to “establish” a religion? If a student brings his favorite book to school and it contains Bible stories, should the teacher banish it for fear of “establishing” a religion? Mr. Hasson insists we take seriously the guarantee of free religious expression and permit people to celebrate their traditions and festivals without censorship and without being banished from public property.How can we all live together in peace when there are so many different religions? One way is to exclude any public acknowledgement of any particular religion, because it might offend someone who is not a believer. The other way is to allow people to honor their own faith, even in public places, while living and working and studying alongside others who do not share it. This is Kevin Hasson’s case, and I find it persuasive.Ms. Ravitch is a research professor of education at New York University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The Problem Of the 21st Century

The Problem Of the 21st Century

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