Engaging Religion as a Worldview

I think there is much truth to Rob's suggestion that what is needed is to engage religion as a worldview and that "if we can get students inside the tradition...they might be able to appreciate the perspective offered by the religious lens, even if they do not adopt it themselves."  That has certainly been my experience in teaching my seminar in Catholic Social Thought and the Law over the last couple of years.

The seminar draws both a range of Catholic students (by which I means students who both know a lot about and take their Catholicism seriously and those who were raised Catholic, but whose Catholicism has little impact on their lives) and non-Catholic students.  I have had a number of students - Catholic and non-Catholic - come to me at the end of the day and express some version of, "I always thought the Catholics were out to lunch on this issue or that, but now I can understand where their views come from.  Once you understand the fundamental principles under which they operate, a lot makes sense.  I don't necessarily agree on x or y, but I see where they are coming from."

Both of what Rob defines as essential steps are present in the case of my seminar - i.e., taught by someone who believes the religion is true (even though I don't hide that there are issues on which the Church's position is one with which I struggle) and avoiding the survey approach (although I do encourage non-Catholic students to contribute, if they can, the positions of their own faith on the issues we are discussing).