War, Peace and Religion in the History Classroom
Preface
Religion – the cause of war, or a voice for peace? School textbooks and state curriculum standards often leave the impression that religion and war go hand-in-hand. But historically, the influence of religious thought on both war and peace is more complex than our textbooks – and news media – would have us believe.
In 2008-2009, the National Endowment for the Humanities funded a seminar series, “War and Peace in Judaism, Christianity and Islam: The Influence of Texts and Commentaries Throughout History” co-sponsored by ISTEP, the Department of Religious Studies and the Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies at San Diego State University. Throughout the year, middle and high school teachers met with SDSU faculty on a regular basis to discuss readings drawn from each of the religious traditions, and explore approaches for translating those discussions into the classroom. The lessons in this unit represent the combined outcome of those efforts.
We would like to acknowledge all of the participants for their collaborative efforts in developing classroom materials. Special recognition is due to Danielle Perkio, Mesa Verde Middle School, for her input on critical examination of textbook language; Dana Mejias and Stacy Tinsley, Correia Middle School, for their contributions to the lessons on Just War, technology applications, and language usage in contemporary media; and Susan Mitchell, Jefferson Middle School, for her approach to using Just War as a theme throughout the year.
Finally, we wish to thank our lead faculty from the SDSU Department of Religious Studies: Rebecca Moore, Department Chair, covering Christianity; Khaleel Mohammed, covering Islamic Studies; and Rabbi Scott Meltzer, covering Judaic Studies. ISTEP Director, Elsie Begler, facilitated discussions of classroom adaptations and development of new curriculum, and was responsible for final editing and compilation of the materials.
ISTEP, 2009
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I. Setting the Context - The Academic Study of Sacred Texts and Commentaries
Lesson 1: Religious vs. Devotional Study of Religious Texts
PowerPoint Presentation (PPT)Lesson 2: The Bible as a Primary Source Document for Learning about the Ancient Hebrews
II. Defining War, Exploring the Meaning of Peace
Lesson 3: The Meaning(s) of War and Peace
Part I: Words and Meanings (an “Into” Activity)
Part II: Defining War
Part III: Exploring the Meaning of Peace
Lesson 4: The Lexicon of War and Peace in Textbooks
Part I: The Lexicon of War
Part II: The Causes of War
Part II: Peace
III. Just War
Lesson 5: Introducing the Principles of Just War
Part I: Surveying Student Attitudes Towards War
Part II: Just War Theory
Part III: Augustine de Hippo and Thomas Aquinas on Just War
Lesson 6: Just War Theory in the History Classroom I: What Leaders Have Said
Lesson 7: Just War Theory in the History Classroom II: You Decide...
Lesson 8: Language and Faith
Part I: The Political Lexi on of Our Times
Part II: Revolutionaries or Terrorists?