Religious literacy - Purpose

Chapter Fourteen

Purpose of religious literacy

My argument concerning the academic study of religion in secondary and higher education is threefold: first, that teaching about religion is an essential task for our educational institutions; second, that the primary purpose of such teaching should be civic; and third, that this civic purpose should be to produce citizens who know enough about Christianity and the world’s religions to participate meaningfully—on both the left and the right—in religiously inflected public debates. High school and college graduates who have not taken a single course about religion cannot be said to be truly educated.

Prothero, Stephen. Religious Literacy (p. 17). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

Unitarian Universalists state that the third of the six sources for their “living tradition” is “Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life.” How can a person claim to be a Unitarian Universalist if they are not familiar with this wisdom from the world religions? What is the obligation of a UU congregation to provide or help its members access this kind of education?