Hello dear readers.
I have been asked to elaborate on how I think that UU RE does a disservice to kids. This will be a short post on it and depending on reaction I might post more later.
First.....I think most UU RE ignores the fact that we live in a particular culture. We are Westerners (at least we were the last time I looked). And yet most kids who come out of UU RE cannot talk intelligently about the foundational stories and myths that make up Western culture. Before you can do really good interfaith work, you need to know something about where you come from.
Second.....most UU kids are woefully ignorant of their own history. (I could say the same thing about most UU adults) Things happened before 1961 and it would be helpful if UU kids got a good grounding in that and yet there seems to be little effort to get kids to see that they are a part of a line (or tradition).
On the social justice side, UU kids have no idea that they are part of a tradition there either. How many of them know about the Social Gospel movement? Or the U/U beginnings of insititutions like the Red Cross? They aren't the first Us/Us/UUs doing this type of work and they won't be the last and they need to know that.
There are many other things I could talk about but these are probably controversial enough.
Discuss as you wish.
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4 comments:
I guess UU RE must've gone downhill since I was a kid in Sunday School (1980-1988). We learned the Bible, Social Gospel, U and U history (especially Universalist, since that's what we were), Jewish traditions, Humanism, evolution and prehistory, and a bit of Buddhism, among other subjects. Sorry to hear that times have changed so much. BTW I don't agree on the KJV, I just find it confusing, not lyrical, and much prefer the RSV Bible we all got as a fifth grade Sunday School graduation gift (NSRV is good too, of course).
I'm wondering what part of the country you went through RE in.
Let me be clear...this is not an indictment of ALL UU RE programs. I think there are a lot of things that play into this.
Geography plays a huge role. So does the age of the church. Miniserial emphasis is in it too. I also think that church options play a role that many don't want to acknowledge.
On the KJV.....I know that for some, like you, it's confusing. The reason I think kids need to know it goes much more into them needing to understand that it was the only Bible available (except for Catholics) for most of the Christian world. A majority of Western literature is based on the KJV, so it helps to know where those works come from. Like I said, for study I use the NRSV or New Jerusalem.
New England--the church was established in 1821. We had an unordained DRE, who did eventually receive ordination in 1993 (the year I graduated high school). Ordained or not, she was excellent, I count her as one of the most formative influences in my life. Many of my Sunday School peers would say the same. I'm willing to believe you that RE differs, both in content and quality, in different regions. I only had one childhood so I can't speak to how children in other areas experienced Sunday School.
I'm not sure that children actually need to learn the KJV in order to learn that it was the only option for many during an important span of about 300 years--a point that I don't think is as relevant as you do. Seems more like something you could state and then move on from. Children really need to learn the stories, not the precise language a decreasing number of people use. BTW, don't you mean English literature? The Germans, French, etc had their own Bibles.
I say all of this as a professor of religious studies--I love reveling in minutiae and primary sources but don't feel they're as important for children. It's enough of a challenge to convince them (and their parents) that they need to know the stories of Genesis, Exodus, and so on without further burdening them with archaic language they don't understand (and sometimes even their Sunday School teacher is a bit perplexed by). If they want to get deep into King James they can do so at their own discretion later on. I just think of this in terms of priorities--my children don't need to know about KJV but should learn the myths of the Bible, as well as leaving time for practical ethics, non-Christian traditions, and all sorts of other stuff that I expect a UU RE curriculum to cover. There's only so much time and effort RE teachers can provide and I have higher priorities for them than schooling my children in KJV. Not that I'm opposed to it, it simply seems like a low priority and there are other things I'd prefer to see their time spent on.
I wonder if it's mainly converts from KJV-oriented traditions that think UU children should be taught KJV, or adult UU converts to Christianity who find the KJV somehow more "authentic" or emotionally moving. I.e. there is a version that resonates with these people and they assume it should resonate with others. Non-Christian UUs and those who grew up with more accurate translations, on the other hand, may prefer versions that are more accessible to the reader and more faithful to the sources. Just a thought, I have no idea if it's accurate. I say this in part because while KJV promoters often try to couch their arguments in terms of KJV influence on literature and culture (influence that is indeed very important, yet often somewhat exaggerated in their accounts, IMHO), my impression is that they wax most enthusiastic about the _language_ of the KJV itself, not its role in times past (and rapidly fading), and seem to feel that simply juxtaposing KJV and some other translation will automatically demonstrate the legitimacy of their adherence to this particular text.
Regarding Bible and its influence on culture, we used the study guide that accompanies Buehrens Understanding the Bible that is available on the Beacon Press web site:
http://www.beacon.org/client/uu_guides/1053dg.cfm
I would recommend using this resource for use with youth or adults who want to know more about the Bible, the stories it contains, and the context that these stories were written in.
The study guide recommends using different translations of the Bible -- we used KJV but we also used other ones and to have participants take turns reading out loud with everyone following along using a different translation.
This introduces the idea that what their "Bible Belt" neighbors call the "word of God" varies depending on the translation. And translation can vary depending on the theological POV (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, etc).
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