EDUC 2400 – 01

Week 6

Mid-term Quiz: terms and definitions – matching (20 minutes)

Presentations from Chapter 5 by: Casey A. (review)

Comments about reflections and article responses

· Nice topics

· Remember to match the chapters with the reflection

Visit from ESL students, Dixie High School on Nov. 12 – suggestions of possible activities (vocabulary games…)

Today’s focus: Cultural Foundations of Oppression in the United States

Religion and Oppression – The Struggle to Establish Religious Freedom

Exercise 1: Clarify what students gained from this chapter

Exercise 2: Terms and definitions

Presentations from Chapter 6 by: Olivia N., Kallie H., Jessie D.

1. Separation of Church and State – Ask students to share issues, questions, provide needed explanation

a. Do we keep American public education separate from and without religious influence? Why?

b. Discuss Utah’s referendum #1 – vouchers – be sure to include both sides of the debate

2. Religious Freedom in the United States – give scenarios

1. Should a Sikh be allowed to wear his turban on a hard-hat job even though it appears to be a

violation of safety regulations?

2. Can a soldier who is a member of Wicca practice his or her religion on an army base?

3. Should Hindus be forced to build their temple with an architectural style that will match the

other buildings in a southern California community instead of building it based on their

traditional temple architecture?

4. Because a Jainist student attends the high school, must the cafeteria staff clearly mark the

contents of the meals prepared so that the student can be assured of eating only vegetables?

5. Can a Muslim woman teaching in a public school wear her traditional head covering in her

classroom?

6. Should members of the Native American Church be allowed to ingest peyote (an illegal drug)

because it has historically been part of their religious rituals?

Response: The U.S. Supreme Court said the state of Oregon was not violating the first

amendment because the illegality of peyote pertained to general drug use and was not

intended as an effort to interfere with specific religious practices.

7. Should a Florida city council allow members of the Santeria faith to engage in animal

sacrifice because it is traditionally part of their religious practice?

Response: The U.S. Supreme Court said the Santeria animal sacrifice must be permitted as a

legitimate form of worship since kosher butcher shops and other forms of animal killing were

permitted in the community.

8. Should a Sikh student come to school with the symbolic knife (“kirpan”) he is required to

wear following his initiation?

Response: The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the school accommodate the

student, recommending that the kirpan should be small and sewn in a sheath so that it could

not constitute a potential weapon to be used against other students.

9. Should Muslim employees be given time to perform their obligatory prayers during the

workday?

Response: At the Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Nashville, Tennessee, a Muslim

advocacy group intervened in this dispute and negotiated an accommodation with Whirlpool

that allowed all employees to customize their coffee breaks so that anyone, including

Muslims, could use their coffee break for prayer.

10. Do Seventh Day Adventist or Jewish employees have the right to refuse to come to work on

Saturday because it is their Sabbath?

Response: Private employers may fire an employee for this reason, but state or federal

governments have to prove a “compelling state interest” to do so. Fired for refusing to work

on the Sabbath, a Seventh Day Adventist denied unemployment compensation sued the state

for violating his religious freedom. The ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court was that the state

did not demonstrate a “compelling state interest,” in denying unemployment compensation in

this case.