Hansen Wendlandt, NCPC Pastor.  Do you know the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam? That might come in handy, when your crazy uncle argues loudly about bombing Iran, or Iraq, or one of the Stans, or any of “them”… Do you know the story of David, the plain boy who became king and fell into scandal, only to write vulnerable poetry about brokenness and grace in the context of the land he believed God promised to his people? Or do you know Joshua, who took that promise to mean he could take over that land from those who had been living there? Those stories might offer, dare we say, nuance, to your perspective on the Israel-Palestine mess.

Or, where do the various branches of Christianity get such wildly different ideas about women’s rights, the creation of the world, feeding the poor, or the end of the world? It might help to realize when folks on either side of the sanctified political spectrum aren’t simply pulling crazy ideas out of the air—they do plenty of that on their own—but why they interpret their Scripture the way they do.

Despite the rapid decline in formal association with particular religious organizations, America is still a very religious country. By all measures, we are full of people who believe in God, gods and goddesses, or at least something sacred about the world. And by all accounts, very many of us behave and make civil decisions based on our religious commitments. And yet, according to the careful research, Americans are woefully ignorant of each other’s faith systems and traditions.

We were growing a little less suspicious of Mormons, as long as “Big Love” was on HBO and Mitt Romney was on FOX. And we are still learning a little more about Scientology every time Tom Cruise makes a movie. Maybe the explosion of yoga even brings us a touch closer to Hinduism—at least, we’re getting that much closer, just as I’m getting that much closer to some of those ridiculous poses, which means, not close at all.

Other than television and tight pants, religious education in our country is truly pathetic. This is documented very well in Stephen Prothero’s 2007 book, “Religious Literacy”. (An aside: While studying to be a pastor, I once argued with Professor Prothero that 9/11 might actually help inspire us to learn more about our neighbors, to which he responded succinctly, “B******t,” and went on with his lecture. We need more professors like that.)

His claim is not merely that we know far less about our neighbors’ faith systems, even as we diverse faith systems become more common and visible. More so, his point is that the effects of religious illiteracy are much worse than the trivial and impolite. When people don’t understand the foundations of each other’s spiritual motivations, natural tensions and disagreements become nearly intractable civic problems. When government agencies don’t understand how religion functions in a society, things like Waco happen. When people spend so much time fighting about religious claims, they spend far less time growing into the better people and citizens that their faith is supposed to help them become.

In other words, religious illiteracy hurts our communities by creating distance; it hurts our political system when ignorance breeds fear; it hurts individuals who could otherwise explore on their own any spiritual ideas and practices for well-being. And to make matters worse, all of this has been magnified with each successive generation over the last century or so.

So, if American adults today are, on the whole, woefully ignorant about each other’s faith systems and traditions, our young people are clueless. Where, after all, are they supposed to learn about their neighbors’ faith systems? The Internet? (Just type “Islam is…” into your search bar, and see what comes up.) Their parents? (The statistics are overwhelmingly clear that even if parents did know more, they almost never talk to their kids about these sorts of things.) Their friends? (Young people are great about sharing values and ideas with each other, but very few have the vocabulary to explain their family’s religious tradition.) Their school? (Isn’t that illegal? Well, actually no. The Supreme Court has all but begged schools to educate better about religions, but most of them are just chicken, or trying so hard not to offend anyone.)

Nederland Middle-High School courageously addressed this two years ago, with Religious Diversity Day. Every student heard from a wide variety of faith leaders and had plenty of opportunity to ask questions. Every student learned something about the general phenomenon of faith, and atheism for that matter, and learned the details of many particular traditions. To be clear, no student was persuaded to attend worship or accept any religion’s teachings or values; this was about education for better people, citizens and community.

I believe it is time to do more for our young people, so that they can do more for our world. The Nederland area is spiritually diverse, to be sure, but as our teenagers go on to college and sprinkle themselves around the world, they will come into contact with so many people inspired by so many things. We can help prepare them.

The Community Church is inviting young people to come learn about different religious systems, one Sunday per month through the school year, at noon. Instead of simply bringing up experts from Boulder, we are asking locals to come speak about their own faith. That way, our kids will continue to see those neighbors, and know that faith lives and is not merely some rare concept. The plan is to have food associated with each religion, make the learning interactive and fun, look at sacred objects and texts, and have plenty of room for questions and conversation. There will be no persuasion or argument, just a chance for young people to grow.

We start at Hinduism on 18 Oct, with a great lunch and stories from Resham. On 1 Nov we’ll learn about Wicca, with harvest food from more of our favorite chefs, Kim and Kimba. On 6 Dec we get a little preview of the Hanukkah celebration, with latkes from Marty and other Jewish friends. And 24 January it will be Buddhism with Teresa and Thai food. Future dates for Islam, Catholicism, Mormonism and Humanism will be announced later.

This series is especially aimed at teens and pre-teens, but if you have a savvy and interested 4th grader, feel free to bring her/him. This series is especially NOT aimed at parents and other adults, but if you simply must come, please talk to me (ncpcpastor@gmail.com) beforehand and be prepared to play all the silly games.

We’re in this life thing together. I hope these events can help our young people be a little more ready to make their lives and their world a bit more connected, peaceful and meaningful.