The value of education

Is it desirable to encourage greater religious involvement in

American public life and increased recognition of the vital role

played by religion in the building of our country? Is a secular state

and “desacralized” society alien to both Americanism and Judaism?

There are those who embrace a separationist orthodoxy while others

affirm it should not be a wall but a curtain between “church and

state.” In my own community, the unprecedented expansion of Jewish

day school education in America has prompted an increasing number of

Rabbis, Jewish intellectuals and communal leaders to rethink their

earlier opposition to state aid.

I believe it is in America’s best interest to support those

seeking religious education. Government must recognize that every

well-educated citizen is a priceless asset to America’s future. It

cannot be argued that the product of a theological education is going

to be a less profitable investment of government funds, simply

because he engaged in a comprehensive religious education.

I submit that many of the great defenders of our Western values

drew their vision and strength from the moral beliefs presented to

them through religious instruction. It is my view that freedom cannot

be preserved without religion. Certainly, those who truly live out

their faith in America are the ones who attain the utmost

imperviousness to the scourges corroding our society and undermining

its security.

Believing as I do that those who study and apply the tenets of

faith are among the most important building blocks of our society, I

conclude that aiding them in this pursuit can only contribute to the

national good. The wall of division between state and church must

feature gates if that wall is not to blockade our civilization and

starve it to death.

RABBI MARK MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

While a student at the Episcopal Theological School, 1968-71, I

received notice from my draft board changing my selective service

classification from exemption as an undergraduate student at Cal to a

“4-D” exemption as a seminarian.

My contemporaries were being drafted and going either to war or

jail; and I’d gone to seminary to examine great questions about God,

human nature, mortality, morality, ethics and Jesus as the Christ,

not to dodge the draft. So I sent my “4-D” card back to my selective

service center asking to be eligible for the draft and protesting

that governmental decisions should not affect my theological studies.

Their response was to send a new “4-D” card with a packet of legal

excerpts saying, essentially, that because I was enrolled at an

accredited school of theology, I had to be classified “4-D” whether

or not I liked it! This began a lengthy exchange from my desk in

Cambridge, Mass., with selective service authorities in North

Hollywood. I was neither drafted nor jailed. I received no

taxpayer-funded scholarships.

I still think that government and theological studies are like oil

and water or, maybe, water and wine. Theological schools are

currently our society’s best resource for study of humanity’s great

questions (God and goodness, morality and human nature) and our

culture craves such examinations. We want to know how God is real and

whether it is an endless void or he is angry or she is just annoyed.

We yearn to know if human nature is basically good or horrid. We

seek understandings of right from wrong. To this end, our government

must find ways of supporting open-ended, nonsectarian,

inter-religious, multi-faith approaches to examination of humanity’s

central questions.

THE VERY REV. CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

St. Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar

Public funds should not be used to pay for the training of clergy

for their ministry. I think most people would not want to see their

tax dollars used to prepare religious leaders to promote viewpoints

with which they strongly disagree, but would affirm their right to do

it on their own dime. The First Amendment ensures that no one

religion or certain favored religions will dominate or be supported

by government, and that all religions can be practiced freely.

The Supreme Court quite rightly upheld exclusion of scholarship

funds by Washington state from students pursing a “devotional

theology” degree. It is noteworthy that the state did not exclude

students from attending a church-affiliated institution (in this

case, Assembly of God) or from taking theology classes. As an

instructor in comparative religion at Cal State Fullerton, I

enthusiastically support the academic study of religions at both the

high school and college levels, and this court decision does not in

any way undermine support for this type of education.

Quite different is the study of theology in preparation for

ministry at a religious institution. As Justice Rehnquist says,

“Training someone to lead a congregation is an essentially religious

endeavor” and “majoring in devotional theology is akin to a religious

calling.” When I studied for my master’s degree in theology at Loyola

University in Chicago, our courses were entirely focused on Catholic

doctrine, history and spirituality, and most students, lay and

clerical, were there to better absorb and espouse Catholic teachings

in their ministries. Some of our classes started with prayer. Justice

Thomas, in his dissent in Locke vs. Davey, makes much of the point

that the study of theology (“the study of the nature of God and

religious truth”) can be academic rather than devotional or designed

to “induce religious faith,” but I am not persuaded that this

distinction should justify public funding of it.

While there may be public funding for those taking some courses in

Buddhism or Zen in public or private universities, I would not expect

to see funding for those who are preparing for leadership at Zen

Centers, temples or monasteries.

THE REV. DEBORAH BARRETT

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

I know of several people who worked government jobs and were

forced for one reason or another into retirement early (mostly due to

medical reasons). One even worked for the city of Costa Mesa. The

government offered to retrain them in the field of their choice. They

chose ministry and thus required theological training. I would hate

to have seen them denied this opportunity.

Having said that, the government would need to have a blind eye to

the color of that training. They should not allow Christians to study

and Buddhists not to study. I see no problem with people training for

future occupations with government help as long as the government

isn’t is in the business of discriminating between faiths.

RIC OLSEN

Senior Associate Pastor,

Harbor Trinity Church

Costa Mesa