Learning Extremism

I recently traveled through the eastern part of the US, to visit family and friends. I saw many Christian schools of various denominations. I saw no Jewish schools, but would have had I driven through the largest east coast cities. I saw no madrasahs either, mostly for the same reason – there are few outside the larger urban centers. What, I wondered, do all these religious schools teach about how to live with others in their communities. Would their teachings seem extreme to me? Or would they be teaching moderation in some form?

Then, last week, in an article in the WASHINGTON POST newspaper, I read of how one of those imprisoned for seven years at Guantanamo Bay had spent some time in Pakistan. He said his time there had “nothing to do with that country’s madrassas, or religious schools where future fighters were being educated in an extreme form of Islam.” (Cody, Edward, “Ex-Detainee Describes Struggle of Exoneration” Washington Post May 26, 2009. P. A1) I wondered, what is a madrasah ? Do they really teach extremism?

And then today, I read in the NEW YORK TIMES newspaper that a man had killed a doctor, Dr. George Tiller, who’s performed abortions for 30 years. (Stumpe, Joe and Monica Davey, “Abortion Doctor Shot to Death in Kansas Church.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/01tiller.html?_r=1&em retrieved 1 June 2009) The killing occurred in the foyer of a Christian church. The abortion issue divides Americans as few other issues can, and the reporters took statements from representatives of both sides. I was struck by one side’s statement: “We are pro-life, and this act was antithetical to what we believe.” Where do people like the killer learn these extreme behaviors? In religious schools?

The word, “madrasah,” simply means school, whether public or private or religious, upper or lower grades. The madrasahs might be elementary schools, or upper level centers through the university level. Some in Africa serve the after-school religious educations of the Muslim children, in the same way I remember Catholic churches offering after school religious education. Although some of these madrasahs or schools have focused on religious education, i.e., study of the Qur’an, many have historically taught secular topics as well. Still, their purpose might be stated as learning so as to understand God’s word.

It might be easy for us Americans to believe that madrasas might be teaching anti-Christian, or anti-Western thinking. That’s what our newspapers often tell us. Perhaps some in Muslim countries might also be wondering if Christian schools and colleges are teaching anti-Islamic thinking. What’s taught at a typical Christian school in the US? Covenant College, located at Lookout Mountain in Georgia, states, “We are a community committed to the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, [emphasis mine] and everything we do is grounded in our Reformed theology and worldview.” (http://www.pcanet.org/general/cof_contents.htm) Based on a sample size of one, I can vouch for the quality of Covenant’s education program. I can also say that the college teaches math, science, and humanities from one Christian point of view.

Beyond teaching, madrasahs also served social purposes. Historically, “[s]ocial life was dominated by religion not only in the Muslim world of the Ottoman Empire [1300 – 1600AD] . . . Just as mosques dominated social life for the Ottomans, churches and synagogues dominated life for the Christians and Jews as well." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrasah. retrieved 27 May 2009)

Graham Nash, while a member of the British rock band the Hollies, wrote, “Teach your children well. Their fathers’ hell did slowly go by. And feed them on your dreams...” (from Nash’s song, “Teach Your Children,” recorded and released in 1970 on the album “Déjà Vu” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.) Isn’t this, in fact, what religious schools of all faiths have been doing for centuries, perhaps millennia? And isn’t it probable that some of those teachings will seem extreme to us, based on our own life experiences and beliefs, and our own dreams?

My real concern is whether we can learn to live together in moderation, differing in our views while respecting other’s rights to disagree with us? Or must we continue to kill them? Must they and we continue to teach extremism?