Religious Music and Multicultural Education

Author(s): Iris M. Yob

Source: Philosophy of Music Education Review, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Fall, 1995), pp. 69-82
Published by: Indiana University Press
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Religious Music and Multicultural Education

Iris M. Yob

Bloomington, Indiana

That the religions and the arts are closely

associated is evidenced by the architecture,

paintings, drawings, sculptures, the many forms
of liturgical music, costumes, symbolic artifacts,
floor and wall coverings, landscaping, illuminated manuscripts, sacred literature, or dance that
are part of many religious occasions and places.
So interpenetrated are they, that music and art

enriching, equitable, and community-building.

Its focus is not only on knowing about different
cultural world views but developing appropriate
feelings toward them of appreciation, respect,
and empathy. Both terms, "multicultural education" and "cultural sensitivity," however, imply

an ongoing critique of institutions and their

systemic inequity in matters of race, gender,

teachers have a difficult time avoiding works

and class. For both, the underlying motive is to

with religious subject matter, function, or

encapsulate the values and aspirations of a

democracy, like that of the U.S.A., which

meaning, in their programs of study and course

embodies new and diverse groups of people,

offerings.

While some argument may be mounted

and in a world like ours which we increasingly

against dealing with religious art works in the

recognize to be interdependent and whose

avowedly secular public school arts education

programs, this close affinity between religion

prospering and even survival depends in large

and the arts has also been the very grounds for

part on being able to negotiate the differences

among peoples in caring and just ways.

a number of arguments in favor of including

I

them for study in the curriculum. I shall exam-

ine one of these arguments to discover something of its strengths and limitations, and propose some guiding principles for its application
to classroom practice- the argument that deals

We shall begin with an illustration, one

which may on first blush even seem to be a

with the use of religious art works for the

Jewish students, who were members of the

Swarthmore College Chorus, announced their
intention to refuse to sing Bach's St John
Passion during parents' weekend the following
month. They were objecting, they claimed, to

purposes of multicultural education.

In this context, "multicultural education"
may be substituted by the more modest term,

"cultural sensitivity." It is more modest because it does not promise on the face of it to

counter-example. In March of 1995, three

plumb the depths of many different cultures (an

unrealistic expectation) but, rather, suggests that

participating in a work that has been put to antiSemitic uses in its recounting and interpretation
of the crucifixion of Christ. One of the singers

learners will be exposed to the existence of

described her reaction to the work in an essay

profound differences between people and learn

to deal with those differences in ways that are

words: "After I read the text, my heart told me

she wrote for the student newspaper in these

Philosophy of Music Education Review 3, no. 2 (Fall 1995): 69-82.

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70 Philosophy of Music Education Review

that I could never utter those words." Another
member of the chorus elaborated: "I remem-

bered from history books how Passion plays

have been used sometimes to inspire anti- Jewish feeling, and I knew how they were revived

by the Nazis and used as propaganda."

Among the offending passages, according
to the report of this event in The Chronicle of
Higher Education, are the following:
Evangelist: The body of soldiers with
their captain, who were sent by the
Jews, laid hold of Jesus, and bound Him

fast and led Him away at first unto

Annas for he was Caiphas' father-in-law,

which was high priest that same year.

Now it had been Caiphas who had told
the Jews that it was expedient that one
man should die, should die for all. (from

Parti)

suspect, however, that positive and productive

attitudes and approaches can be taught, or at

least their possibility is something to which I
would hope to expose my students. Coming to

allow, appreciate and even be enriched by

cultural diversity is a life-long learning process
given the changing complexity of today's world
and the dynamic character of culture develop-

ment, but the schools are ideally situated to

undertake this education formally in planned
and purposeful ways and informally in bringing
together a cultural mix in both the faculty and
student body in many schools.
Cultural differences have been presented to
learners in studies of different foods, festivals,

housing, geographic regions, languages, dress,

governments, and works of art. Too often,
however, the temptation has been to keep the
examination of cultural diversity at the level of

Evangelist: That so might be fulfilled

the word of Jesus, which He had spoken,

and had signified by what manner of

death He should die. Then Pilate en-

tered into the Hall, and again he called

in Jesus, and said to Him: "Art thou the

King of the Jews then?" Jesus then

answered him: "Sayest thou this thing of
thyself or did these others tell it thee to

say of me?" And Pilate thus answered

Him: "Am I a Jew? Thy nation and Thy
Chief Priests have brought Thee here for

judgment before me. What then hast

Thou done?" And Jesus answered him:

"My kingdom is not of this World, for

were my kingdom of this World, then
my servants all would fight, yea, battle,
that I be not delivered unto the Jews.

Nay then, for not from hence is my

kingdom." (from Part II)1
Allowing, valuing and even being enriched

by cultural diversity is not always a natural

response to different others. Religio-cultural
tensions, in particular, are among the most
divisive and destructive forces within communi-

ties and between peoples, because most religions have traditionally believed they are right

and others outside the faith are wrong.2 I

these phenomena and to overlook or ignore the

deeper significances and understandings they

might represent.3 Teachers do not always ask
what meaning these phenomena have for the
people who exhibit them, to what ultimate
values do they relate, or even why things are as
they are. For instance, to tell students that the

people of Tonga wrap a floor mat around

themselves before leaving home is merely to
exhibit a curiosity. To explain further that, in
the Tongan view, there is a hierarchy of powers
in the world: God is supreme, the ruling mon-

arch is second and the Tongan people come

somewhere below that, and, therefore, to appear

in public better attired than members of the

royal family is not only a mark of disrespect

but also a blasphemous act, a usurping of

position that is not rightfully theirs. To explain

this is to reveal the meaning of the curious

behavior. At these deeper levels, the apparent
differences between peoples are rooted and it is
here that one must look for fundamental cultur-

al differences, resolve cultural tensions where

possible and engage in cultural interchanges.
The kinds of understandings that give rise

to observable behaviors and customs make up

a people's world view, and often these world
views are constructed and expressed through

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Iris

M.

Yob

religious (manifested at times as religio-political

included as an integral subject for classroom

or religio-social) beliefs. That is to say, religion is a primary source of answers to the

questions of What is real? What is the nature
of things? and What is of ultimate worth? To

instruction."9 Albert Shanker, president of the

understand a people then, one needs to include

a consideration of the religious underpinnings

important force acting on the institutions that

we examine."10 In a later editorial he wrote:

of that people's historical development and

cultural expressions.
n

Numerous appeals have been made for

American Federation of Teachers, was also

compelled to state, "In omitting religion from

school studies we are omitting an extremely

If students don't know anything about

the religions that helped shape our cultural heritage, they'll have a very limited

appreciation of that heritage. And if

they're ignorant about the religions
practiced in our multicultural society, it

including the study of religion in education. In

will be difficult for them to understand-

the post- World War II period, the American

Association of Colleges of Teacher Education

or live harmoniously with-the people

who practice them. Most important, if
students don't get a chance to discuss

opened its 1959 report on teacher education and

religion with the words:
In recent years there has been an accelerated interest and concern by educators

religion in their American history class-

es, they won't learn about our unique

tradition of religious freedom or how
and why the separation of church and

in public education on the place and role

state was established and maintained-

of religion ... in the curriculum. From

and they won't find out about the role

they must play in carrying on these

higher education, it is evident that many

of the national associations, representing

essential forms of our democracy.11

an examination of current literature in

various segments of higher education

regard this area as one of great challenge
and opportunity.4

One of the paradoxes in education in the ensuing thirty-plus years is the relative paucity of
attention in curriculum developments to reli-

gious studies5 on the one hand and yet the

continuing and even renewed interest in and
support for this field of study on the other.6
Of course, there have been some notewor-

thy developments over this period, including

projects undertaken by university departments,
school districts and interested individuals work-

ing independently or together,7 and some improvements in the social studies textbook treatments of world religions.8 Yet, Mary Hatwood

Futrell, president of the National Education

Association, still found it necessary to urge, "As
religion has been an integral part of the history

of civilization-its arts and sciences, its lan-

guage and literature, its politics- so it should be

Incidentally, in this statement Shanker covers a

wide range of purposes to be served by the

study of religion in a multicultural curriculum-

the personal (an appreciation of one's own

cultural heritage), the social (learning to live
harmoniously with people of different faiths),
and the political (participation in a democracy
that is characterized by religious freedom).

A notable impetus was given religious

studies by the publication of the Williamsburg

Charter, a ten-point affirmation of religious

liberty, issued at the bicentennial of Virginia's

call for the Bill of Rights.12 Among the

Charter's significant spin-offs was the publica-

tion by the First Liberty Institute of George

Mason University and Learning Connections of
Boulder, CO, of a three volume curriculum,
Living With Our Deepest Differences. However, the concerted study of the religions for their

influence on cultural development and diversity

remains spotty at best in schools across the

country, and regrettably large numbers of

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72

students in schools in the U.S.A. graduate with

arts were also religious authorities. We do not

little or no knowledge of the various world

know whether Bach would have composed

religions which characterize not only the worldout-there but also the world-here-at-home.13

time and not depended on the church for his

cantatas and passions had he lived in a different

livelihood or whether Michelangelo would have

The challenge and responsibility to devel-

op cultural sensitivity through the study of

different others does not rest solely with the
social studies programs. Apart from incidental

sculptured a Moses if he had had other clear

choices of subject matter, but they produced the
art works that they did as their response within
and to the religious contexts and understandings
of their time and place.

Furthermore, art provides apt symbolic

opportunities both formal and informal in many

material for religious expression. In their

subject areas and school activities, teachers of

the arts have a particularly significant role
because of the close affinity between religion

separate studies of world religions, Rudolf Otto

and Walter Kaufman identify some of the ways

and the arts. This affinity is apparent whether

They note, among other things, how the erection of huge monoliths, obelisks, and pyramids
expressed the feeling for the solemn and imposing magnitude of the Holy, the single magnificent dome of the mosque reflected the mono-

one considers the sacred sand drawings of

Australian aboriginal "dreamings," Jewish

biblical literature, the paintings, sculptures and

music of Christianity, the clean lines yet stun-

religions have employed aesthetic symbols.

ning majesty of many Islamic mosques, the

theism of Islam, the silence and darkness in

carvings of Jainism, magnificent Hindu temples,

western religious works and the empty distances

in eastern works produce a strong impression of

the Buddhas of stone or pure gold, Balinese

masks or Japanese Zen garden sanctuaries.14
The affinity of religion and the arts has not
always been welcomed by religion as the Jewish prohibition against graven images, the early
Buddhist ban on representations of the Buddha,
the iconoclasm of the Protestant Reformation

and the Puritan restraint in sensual activity all

illustrate, yet even under these convictions an

the numinous, the bronzes and buildings of

southern India are uniquely Hindu, the art of
China, Japan and Tibet is influenced by Taoism

and Buddhism, and the Jewish passion for

literature has been nurtured in religious understandings and vice-versa. 15

Music and the other arts, being highly

suggestive, figurative, and in their most funda-

alternative aesthetic expression often arosewhen sculpture and painting were proscribed,
architecture, music or literature could some-

mental manifestations more non-discursive than

times flourish, though it may have possessed a

timbres, rhythms, rhymes, and textures, are

beauty that was stark and simple. Even religious prohibitions against the aesthetic are
evidence that the religions have been sensitive

often the only language appropriate to religious

to the arts.

This close tie between religion and art can

be explained in a number of ways. Foremost,

a great deal of extant art has been produced at

times when religious understandings have

dominated human thinking. Representations or
expressions of human experience would naturally be done in religious terms or with religious
symbols, even more so when the patrons of the

verbal, employing significant gestures, movements, colors, shapes, figures of speech, tones,

insights and expression. As Mendelssohn

explained, "A piece of music, which I love,
expresses thoughts to me which are not too
imprecise to be framed in words, but too pre-

cise. So I find that attempts to express such

thoughts in words may have some point to
them, but they are also unsatisfying."16 Artistic symbols have often expressed, explored and
instructed religious experience and the esoteric
and intuited objects of religious thought because

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Iris

M.

both religion and art explore the meaning of

being human and the experience of the inner
life.17

Yob

73

in his discussions of the nature of art. His

focus was on the visual arts but his conclusions

can be applied to other domains of artistic

William James gives a slightly different

take on the connection between the arts and

religious experience. He described the "aesthet-

ic motive" as one of the "buildings-out" of

religion, a natural, even spontaneous accompa-

expression with little imaginative strain. Art, in

his view, is universally religious, the most

notable exception being perhaps those deliberately religious works that represent a religious

niment of religion. Although he tended to

depreciate the cognitive value of religious

theme but fail to move from the superficial

level to reveal or express "ultimate concern."
As he summed up the argument: ". . . every

symbols, he described how their psychological

and emotional effects are enhanced when they

insofar as it contributes to the answer of the

have an aesthetic appeal.18 In other words, he

question of the meaning of our existence and

suggested that art makes religion more attrac-

existence universally . . .'922 He goes on to

tive, and consequently, more subjective, more

explain that the art works of individuals togeth-

cultural creation has a religious dimension

satisfying and more effective in engendering the

er with the cognitive and aesthetic works of

right feelings. Although here he seems to limit

others in the societal group at that time create

a cultural "style"- the characteristic expression
of ultimate concern of a society in a particular

religious impulses to the realm of feeling, he

nevertheless points out their affective content

and how this can be enhanced through the

era. (In a sense, the artists and thinkers of a

impact of aesthetic symbols.

place and time not only construct their cultural

style but are themselves formed by and within
it interdependently.) At its base, a culture is a

The experience of art and religion is

similar, often described as spiritual, involving

the intuition of mystery, imagination, and

profound emotive qualities. A century and a
half ago, Horace Bushnell, pastor, writer and
Christian educator, recognized that religion in
essence was more like art than any other pursuit. In his view, religious truth is "the expres-

sion of God- God coming into expression,"

through the Word, and whether in language,
ritual, histories or incarnation, this Word has a

group's expression of ultimate concern, its

formulation of the answer to the question of the

human predicament, its religious (broadly

defined) self understanding.23
Tillich seems to suggest, then, that through

a study of a people's cultural style- its "religious" self expression- one can come to know
that people. Clearly, in his discussion, "religion" is more than what goes on in churches,
mosques and temples-all art works are poten-

"natural and profound alliance with poetry."19

Otto explains that religious and aesthetic experiences are both characterized by a "non-rational"

tially religious, while there is a ready tendency

element, where "non-rational" is not to be

surface of their symbols and traditions to mat-

for religions to fail to penetrate beneath the

understood as counter to reason or above reason

ters of ultimate concern. However, when

but as an overplus of meaning. That is, he

organized religion functions as it should, Tillich

explains, "the object of religious awe or reverence cannot be fully determined conceptually:
it is non-rational as is the beauty of a musical

trated, definite place in which nothing is meant,

composition, which no less eludes complete

conceptual analysis."20 It is through the artistic and religious imagination that believers are

exposed to the possibility of transcendent

realities.21

It is this theme that Paul Tillich addressed

suggests it acts as "a special place, a concenintended, or symbolized but . . . ultimate concern. Religion in this narrow sense is thus an
element of our culture, a necessary part of
culture insofar as culture is rooted in an ulti-

mate concern."24 In genuine art works of a

religion, then, he suggest one might discover
the most authentic, as well as the most pro-

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74 Philosophy of Music Education Review

found, representations of a culture.

In developing his "theology of culture,"

Tillich was selective about what he regarded as
noteworthy art. He was drawn to Expression-

precisely is "good" music to be differentiated

from "bad"? While there is this sense in which

Tillich's preference for "good" art seems rea-

ism and considered the avant garde to be genu-

sonable, because surely the better the work, the

more expressive it will be of significant mean-

inely revealing but was inclined to overlook

other schools of art and dismissed a great deal

considerable extent determined within a culture

ings, the criteria for judging musics are to a

of popular culture as kitsch. As some have

or a genre. Tillich's case being typical of a

pointed out, "[w]hile Tillich formally made all

cultural artifacts material for analysis, in prac-

widespread attitude, the music of one's particular cultural elite tends to provide the standard

tice ... he avoids popular culture . . . [and]

for judging all musics. This kind of cultural

privileges the self-interpretation of the cultural

hegemony is one of the bogeys to be dismantled

in education for cultural sensitivity.

elite . . ."25 Several reasons have been offered

for his exclusivism on this matter of what art

Second, is popular culture accurately

works count, but whatever the reason, his

written argument on the one hand and his

portrayed as a commodity which is passively

personal preferences on the other raise compel-

sponse to Tillich (and the Frankfurt School of

Social Research which helped shape Tillich's
thought) follows the line laid down by John

ling questions for music and art educators

seeking to raise the level of multicultural awareness. Whose musics and art works should be

included, and which sacred musics and art

works are genuinely religious and, therefore,
authentically reveal a people's ultimate con-

accepted by the masses? Kelton Cobb's re-

Fiske: popular culture is not merely "consumption," but indeed "culture." It is what a people
or class do with the products that come off the
assembly lines of the culture industry. People

may accept or reject these products, usurp,

cerns?

In defense of a selective view, it could be

said that "good" music is more thoughtful, more
creative, more penetrating, more revolutionary,

more idealistic than "bad" music. As such, this

is the kind of music that is the proper study for

schools and is likely to give more accurate

insights into the lives and meanings of a people.

Popular musics are usually regarded as "bad"

music because they are seen to be little more
than mass produced commodities designed by

transform or rework them. They become then,

in effect, their own cultural expressions.

Third, does popular culture not embody

the ultimate concerns and "religious" meanings
of the large numbers of people who participate
in it in these ways? Isn't the very existence of
a particular popular culture a manifestation of
ultimate concerns? Cobb answers: "Read from

below," as it were, "the appropriated texts [of

popular culture] will disclose an ongoing wran-

the economically powerful and substitute for the

gling of ultimate concerns and genuine erup-

hard work of culture building by failing to

tions of ultimacy demanding that cultural forces

be reordered and moral injustices rectified."26

penetrate below the surface of things to where

meanings are truly constructed. In essence, this
is a restatement and expansion of Tillich's basic
position.

Set out in these simple terms, the argu-

ment prompts several questions- questions

which are raised several degrees of difficulty
for those who wish to reach beyond the western, classical tradition to study the musics (and
other art works) of different others. First, how

Whether or not the themes of popular culture

are an outworking of ultimate concerns for the

reordering of the social order, the important

point is that popular culture can indeed also
disclose ultimate concerns.

One may argue that what is expressed as

"ultimate" in popular culture is not "ultimate"
enough, or falls short of genuine "ultimacy."

Tillich identified a number of "concerns" which

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Iris

M.

Yob

are taken as ultimate but which eventually

of religious experiences expressed through

prove too shallow in this role- he mentions, for

example, success in social standing or economic
power, one's own mother or father, the nation,
an ideology such as nationalism or socialism or

music and provide opportunities for students to

come to grips with the religious ideas of text,
program, title and the implied liturgical function
of a variety of religious works.29
Both these writers have in essence reflect-

"the American way," as well as many of the

lesser concerns of religion, or even the God of

ed the 1987 position of the Music Educators'

religion poorly understood.27 They do "what

National Conference Ad Hoc Committee on

every ultimate concern must do"- demand

Religious Music in the Schools:

unconditional surrender to them in return for

"the promise of fulfillment of one's being"- but

the promise they offer is not only "indefinite"

but in the long run also "empty."28 Misguided

though they may be, however, these lesser

concerns are nevertheless taken to be "ultimate"

by those who embrace them- and so their

examination in popular culture still has the
potential to reveal their espousers' deepest
meanings and yearnings.
In effect, for music educators who choose
to contribute to multicultural education through

the music program, there emerges from the

discussion of the three questions above three
corresponding invitations: 1) to make judgments

of worth more culture-specific in selecting

works to be studied; 2) to broaden their definition of what counts as "culture" and what

Tillich identifies as "cultural style" to include

popular as well as classical productions and the
uses to which they are put; and 3) to look for
expressions of ultimate concern in all "cultural
styles."
Some music educators have recognized the
role of religious music in promoting cultural
sensitivity. Abraham Schwadron, for instance,
who knew firsthand what it was like to be

Jewish in Christian settings, opened his discus-

sion of this topic with this observation: "It is

both strange and unfortunate that the subject of

religion and music, as applied to public education, has not attracted the proper research it
warrants." In his opinion, this is particularly
strange and unfortunate given that we now seek

a greater tolerance of religious ideas and a

deeper understanding of others' positions.
Estelle Jorgensen concurs in suggesting that
music education ought to explore the diversity

It is the position of the MENC that the

study of religious music is a vital and
appropriate part of the total music experience in both performance and listening.
To omit sacred music from the repertoire

or study of music would present an

incorrect and incomplete concept of the
comprehensive nature of the art.30

In elaborating on the intent of this statement,

the chairman of the committee, Alex B. Campbell, noted that such study should be conducted
in a religiously neutral context in which musics

for study were chosen for their musical and

. educational value, not their religious content per
se in order to share different traditions with

students and lead to a respect for them.31 It is

not clear why "religious content" should be

downplayed in or even excluded from consideration when choosing music for study especially
in multicultural studies, because it often is the

"religious content" itself that determines the

nature, function and style of the different music
traditions.

While not wanting to speak for the committee members, I suspect that in an attempt to
avoid criticism that they were supporting any
form of religious indoctrination, they intended

by "religious content" to refer less to subject

matter and more to the injudicious use of that

subject matter in teaching religious faiths to

public school students. If this was their intent,

here is another instance of the common confu-

sion between teaching about religion and religious traditions and teaching for religion and
induction into that religion which commonly
appears in discourses on this topic in many

educational circles.

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76 Philosophy of Music Education Review

There is also an unrealistic interpretation

of "religious neutrality" in a great deal of

educational thought. When this concept indicates that no particular religious faith is accorded a privileged position, that teachers are not to

advocate in the classroom specific religious

commitments, and that all religious traditions

can be equally explored for their educational

and aesthetic values, a realistic and attainable
standard for the study of religions and religious

art works in schools is being indicated. How-

of individuals for religious expression.32

IV

In light of the role of religion and of

religious works of art in multicultural education,
then, can support be found for the inclusion of,

for example, the St John Passion on the program for parents' day at Swarthmore? (Swarthmore, of course, is a private school and, therefore, exempt from some of the strictures regard-

ever, if religious neutrality further means that

ing religious teaching binding on public

no religious responses will be permitted in

teaching/learning episodes, it is in effect de-

schools, but because its student body is diverse

it does serve as a case in point for our present

manding the impossible-it is asking students to

check their personal history at the school gate.
Returning briefly to our case in point, to
what has been dubbed "the Swarthmore Pas-

needs.) In the light of the discussion so far, I

I also reserve the right to add a caveat.
This has to do with the whole educational

sion," the fact that some Jewish students were

offended by the work and that some Christian

package in which a religious music work is

presented. Teachers may rightly expect that

students were possibly inspired by the same

any item, and particularly a religious art object,

can be studied provided it has sound education-

grounds for disallowing its study and performance in the school. Nobody would argue that
one exclude from one's teaching any subject
matter that could arouse responses in students,
either positive or negative- in fact, the reverse
is usually true, one is delighted when students
do respond personally and passionately to what
is being taught. This is true whether the responses are labelled cognitive, aesthetic, moral,
emotional, or behavioral, as long as they are
appropriate within the school setting. Why
would one seek to eliminate, then, those responses that are spiritual or religious? If one's
view of the learner is holistic and one's concept

al purposes to serve, is presented in a context of

work together do not provide reasonable

am inclined to answer affirmatively. However,

acceptable learnings and this is clear to all

parties concerned (including teachers, administrators, students, parents and the wider community supporting the school). In the report of the
Swarthmore case, it is apparent that this became
increasingly the case. The St John Passion had

not been randomly chosen for performance.

The chorus director selected this particular work

to coincide with a seminar on Bach being

taught in another class-it was part of a larger

program of study of one artist's oeuvre.
At the forum that accompanied the Jewish

student protest, which incidentally drew 250

of community is multicultural awrfmulti-faithed,

students from across campus, religion and

different personal responses to specific religious

music professors spoke to the concerns that had

objects are part of the picture of who we are

and what we are dealing with. The establish-

historical and musical complexities of the work.

ment clause of the First Amendment ("Congress

shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion") which has undergirded the publicness of the public schools is counterbalanced by
tfree exercise clause (". . . or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof), which protects the right

been raised and presumably addressed the

Without knowing the details of the forum
discussion, we may assume from the Chronicle
report that the protesting students could explain

how they had been able to perform Vivaldi's

and also Poulenc's Glorias the previous semester, but balked at the Passion not because it was

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Iris

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Yob

Music professors could show how Bach's

ing those works of religious music that carry

the possibility of being controversial? Some
have argued that it is best not to introduce

Passion was different from the anti-Semitic

anything that could prove religiously controver-

against who they were as Jews.

Passion plays of the medieval era and how

sial. In a way reminiscent of this, Horace

Bach had drawn on works other than the Book

Mann offered strong advice to teachers on that

of John, notably, the writings of 18th Century

other "hot potato"-political dissent in schools.

In his Twelfth Annual Report (1848) to the
Board appointed to examine the cause of com-

poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes and commentary from 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century hymns
while avoiding their more egregious anti-Semit-

ic references, especially those in Brockes'

mon schools in Massachusetts, Mann urged

teachers to include political education for

poetry. The words Bach selected, they could

teaching about the nature and functions of a

add, were intended to make Christian listeners

republic and the responsibilities of its citizens.

In undertaking this education, he advised teachers to take a middle course between banishing

uncomfortable by stressing the sins of the

followers of Christ- they were not intended to
focus on who killed Jesus. The religion profes-

sor could explain how the gospel account of

all political teaching from the schools and

becoming consumed with political debate.

John was written later than the other three

Teach those "articles in the creed of republican-

gospels and at a time of internecine strife in the

building of the Christian community. Identify-

ism" that all "sensible and judicious men, all

ing the Jews as responsible for the death of

Christ created a distinction between the believ-

ers and the larger Jewish populace and provided

a common enemy, two elements in strengthen-

ing identity and bonding in the fledgling community.33

Certainly, such discussions to accompany

the performance of the work build greater
understanding not only of the contribution of
Bach, but of the cultural understandings of both
Christians and Jews. While all this was implicit

in the educational package, the protest of the

Jewish students brought it out into the open
where the educational possibilities of the work

could be clarified and shared. Admittedly,

much of the contextual learning took place after
the fact of the student protest and by then, some

complained about the oversimplifications and

hype that the debate had generated. However,
education, like life, is a messy business-curriculum evolves as it is applied, strategies improve
with hindsight, and responses are tempered with
experience- and Swarthmore, it would appear,

eventually got it as right as it could be made

under the circumstances.

Even so, what should be our stance regard-

patriots, and all genuine republicans" accept and

believe in, he suggested. They form the "basis
of our political faith" and should be taught to

all. (The religious terms he has employed in

this argument-"creed" and "faith" in particular-

-further manifest the parallel challenges in

teaching about politics and about religion.)

Then he added:

But when the teacher, in the course of

his [or her] lessons or lectures on the
fundamental law, arrives at a controvert-

ed text, he [or she] is either to read it

without comment or remark; or at most,

he [or she] is only to say that the passage is the subject of disputation, and

that the schoolroom is neither the tribu-

nal to adjudicate, nor the forum to discuss it.34

In a similar vein, Paul Farber35 makes a

case for dealing with controversial religious
matters in schools. In a recent article, he

identifies a "deeply problematic fissure in

liberalism where religion is concerned." This
fissure is illustrated by putting side by side two

recent works on the subject: Nel Noddings'

Educating for Intelligent Belief or Unbelief and

Stephen Carter's The Culture of Disbelief In

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78 Philosophy of Music Education Review

the first, Noddings urges teachers to overcome

the taboo against religion in the schools by

critically, openly, and intelligently engaging
religious thought in dialogue. In essence, she
argues for a "program of life-affirming inqui-

ry." In the second, Carter takes up the case of

those who would regard education less as

"endless critical discourse" and more as a

"process of coming to know rightly." He

debate, in the classroom.

There is of course some wisdom to this

approach. Dissent can be divisive in deeply

disturbing and irresolvable ways, as well as
distracting from other legitimate learning outcomes. One difficulty with this solution to the
problem of difference, however, is that not all
areas of dissent are predictable. Jews in Israel,
for instance, justify their singing of the St John

argues for vigilance in resisting the overarching

secularism that fails to respect "the integrity of
diverse religious cultures"~even in their funda-

Passion, not as worship but as performance

with an appreciation of Bach's work as part of
a cultural heritage37-a position some Jewish

mentalist or absolutist stances.

students at Swarthmore did not choose to adopt.

In the light of these opposite views, Farber

The choral director could not be reasonably

asks "When . . . should teachers forge ahead,

and when demonstrate restraint, where the

expected to know beforehand what his students

would do in this instance (although as a general

interests of individual group members seem to

rule teachers should be culturally sensitive in

be at stake?" He believes some rapprochement

between the two views is possible and should

the presentation of all works).

Conflict being predictable or not, however,
the Mann-Farber approach of retreat-avoidance

inform future discussion; however, he proposes

that drawing together religiously and culturally
diverse students would better come from domains other than religion (environmental studies

or studies of power and political economy)

which may in fact subsume religious interests to
some extent. He concludes:
Fostering inquiry, teachers must recog-

nize that not every taboo must topple.

At times (but when?) the wisdom of

practice says dampen the brush fires of

hostility and change the subject. There

are other topics to talk about, matters
that might more readily engage broad
bands of common concern and foster the

recognition of dimensions of solidarity

and interdependence that we surely need

despite, and in view of, our religious

differences.36

rather than engagement with dissent in the

classroom seriously fails in the context of

multicultural education in a number of ways

which we can only briefly note here. In essence, avoiding dissent represents a retreat from
the kind of learning opportunities that dissent
can afford. The preparation for citizenship in a

democracy to which Mann devoted his educational energies was undermined to the extent
that he overlooked the role of protest among
free peoples. Preparation for citizenship in a
democracy with heightened awareness of its
multicultural and multi-faithed constituency to

an even greater extent depends on admitting

tensions between peoples and learning how to
deal with them in productive ways.

At the very least, to avoid dissent may

amount to losing the opportunity to discover

Where Mann tended to distance schools from

what cultural difference can really mean.

political dissent altogether, Carter is more

inclined to acknowledge the significance of

Cultural and religious differences are more than

merely a fact of life to be cognitively encountered, empirically measured, and systematically
recorded; they are also a matter of the heart-of
commitment, of self-esteem, of cherishment, of

religious differences but to seek alternatives to

fostering multicultural awareness within diversi-

ty; but they both prefer that teachers focus

instead on areas of agreement and both shrink
from the prospect of debate, especially heated

passion, or of threat, or fear, or even disgust,

depending on which side of a cultural divide

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Iris

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Yob

one happens to be. Ignoring these issues and

passionate involvements may leave out of

in more positive terms, confronting differences

can enrich a culture's vision of itself and widen

consideration a great deal of what is significant

to individual learners and what sets them apart
from other cultural groups. Allowing dissenting

its perspective on its place in the world.

Beyond merely becoming aware of differences in their cognitive and affective reality and

views to be expressed can be an experience in

learning to live with them in positive and

learning that cultural differences are a fact of

communal life as we now know it and that they

affirming ways when they are irresolvable, is

learning how to negotiate differences between
groups of people. In a democratic society, this
is an ultimate objective of multicultural educa-

do matter to those who hold them.

In this respect, becoming culturally sensitized is part of the learning process not only for
the disenfranchised or the minority but also for
the dominant cultural group. The protest over
the Passion at Swarthmore was not only a good
learning experience for the Jewish students but
also for the Christian students who may never

have been confronted before with the impact

their art works have had on different others.

Cultural sensitivity may very well have devel-

oped in both groups as a consequence.

Beyond that, cultural sensitivity is more
than affect- it is praxis. What does it mean to

be culturally sensitive? Minimally, it means

allowing difference, our own or others, in lifeaffirming ways. Martin Marty suggests that in

a constitutional republic, public institutions

cannot satisfy everyone in all respects. In this

regard, he adds, we are inclined to overlook a

time-honored strategy-finding it "a mark of
nobility to teach [the] young that the surrounding culture might in many ways not be congenial and might even, indeed, be hostile to some

of their familial, tribal, or confessional values."38 Coming to this acceptance is a useful

initial accomplishment and one which has

enormous benefits for the one who is different-

in sustaining self esteem, in learning to maintain personal integrity even ki the face of social

tion. Negotiation depends on listening and

communicating skills, the ability to compromise
where appropriate, and the formulation of just

codes of behavior that give due respect to all.

It is a set of skills to be learned, and in a world
that seems so easily tempted to protest in violent and controlling ways, teaching these skills
is an important objective. Schools traditionally

have been hesitant in developing policies for

the expression of dissent or indicating how
dissenters may appropriately respond. In fact,
schools have been slow in developing policies
for introducing controversial topics or activities
in the first place. This has left teachers feeling

insecure in their roles and students feeling

relatively powerless in maintaining appropriate

competing interests and in redressing inequities.39

In this instance, Swarthmore provides a

model for consideration. There, dissenters
formed a coalition among themselves to present

specific requests to the faculty of the music

school, they had access to student newspapers
and eventually involved TV and other news
media, and an open forum in which students

and faculty from across the college could

participate. Because these avenues for the

expression of dissent were ad hoc and because

pressure, and importantly in experiencing a

sense of personal freedom. It also has signifi-

both teachers and students were ill-equipped to

deal with dissent before it arose, the difficulties

cant benefits for those from whom one has

escalated and tensions mounted. Taking a cue

differed. Coming up against difference can be

from this episode, one may conclude that stud-

a experienced as corrective or at least as a

ies of models for offering and responding to

resistance to the flaws, limitations and blind

dissent and the opening of channels for commu-

spots within the status quo or at least, its paro-

nication among students, teachers, and other

educational policy makers should be part of a

chialism and hegemonic tendencies. Expressed

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80 Philosophy of Music Education Review

siderable contributions to understanding one's
own personal meaning-making and cultural

program for developing cultural sensitivity.

V

history and those of different others. Music and

other works of art to be studied for their in-

Among the purposes of multicultural

education is the development of a knowledge of
and the skills in responding to different others

in a democratic society. Religious studies in

general and cross-cultural studies of religious
art works in particular are among the most
significant means for developing cultural sensitivity, because religion is likely the most important expression of a group's ultimate concerns,
its grounding meanings, and its most profound
self-understandings and because religious music

and other religious art works are usually the

most representative and expressive articulations

of those concerns, meanings and self-understandings.

A study of religious expressions- music,

paintings, sacred places, worship practices,

beliefs, and so on- in public schools can be
controversial, but as part of well developed
educational programs they can also make con-

sights into diverse cultural groups need to be

selected on the basis of a wider set of criteria

than usually pertains in the study of art works

within one's own classical tradition, viz., their
role, place and value within the cultural group
which gives rise to them in the first place.
Dissent may arise in an education program

which engages the religious expressions of

others. Rather than choosing to avoid or ignore

the possibility of conflict and tension of this

kind, the experience of passionate dissent can
provide useful learnings for all students. It may
afford an occasion for coming to a realization
of what differences among peoples really mean
emotionally as well as cognitively; for developing a sense of the "nobility" or value of difference, even irresolvable difference, in a multicultural and multi-faithed society, and for learning
how to negotiate dissent in ways that are productive and community building.

NOTES
1. Reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education,
March 3, 1995: A33.

2. There is an amelioration of this attitude in some

circles. Diana Eck provides a model and a personal

sketch of interfaith dialogue in Encountering God:

A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Baaras

(Boston: Beacon Press, 1993). See also John Hick,
God Has Many Names (Philadelphia: Westminster
Press, 1980) and Huston Smith, Forgotten Truth:
The Common Vision of the World's Religions (San
Francisco: Harper Torch Books, 1992). These kind
of texts are useful in designing multicultural
education programs.
3. Estelle R. Jorgensen addresses this problem in an as
yet unpublished paper, "Musical Multiculturalism
Revisited: Attic Vases, Elgin Marbles and Musical
Artifacts," to be presented at the Music Educators
National Conference, Kansas City, MO (Spring
1996).

4. A. L. Selby, ed., Teacher Education and Religion

(Oneonta, NY: American Association of Colleges of

Teacher Education, 1959). Also quoted by Charles
Knicker, "Teacher Education and Religion: The
Role of Foundations Courses in Preparing Students
to Teach About Religions," Religion and Public
Education 17 no. 2 (Spring/Summer 1990): 203-219
which traces the lack of practical applications of
these sentiments in teacher education curriculum

developments since then.

5. See for instance, Thomas Hunt, "Religion, Moral

Education and Public Schools: A Tale of Tempest,"
Religion and Public Education 13 no. 2 (Spring
1986): 25-40; Warren Nord, "Religious Literacy,
Textbooks, and Religious Neutrality," Religion and
Public Education 16 no. 1 (Winter 1989): 111-122;
Dan Fleming, "Religion in American Textbooks:
Were the 'Good Old Days' of Textbooks Really So
Good," Religion and Public Education 18 no. 1
(1991): 79-102; Richard Jones and Rebecca Glover,
"Teaching About Religion: A Study of Attitudes,"

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Iris

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Yob

81

Religion and Public Education 18 no. 1 (1991):

11. Albert Shanker, "Why We Should Teach About

141-148; Iris M. Yob, "Reflections on an Experimental Course: Religion and the Public Schools,"
Phi Delta Kappan 16 no. 3 (November 1994): 234-

Religion" in On Campus (December 1990/January

238.

6. See for instance, J. B. Morris, "Moral and Spiritual

Values in Public Education," Religion and Public
Education 11 no. 4 (Fall 1984): 48-51; Thomas
Goodhue, "What Should Public Schools Say About
Religion?" Religion and Public Education 13 no. 2
(Spring 1986): 15-17; Charles Glen, "What Public
Schools Can Do to Accommodate Religious Diversity," Religion and Public Education 13 no. 4 (Fall

1986): 92-98; David Owens, "Recent Textbook

Cases and Children's Rights," Religion and Public

Education 15 no. 3 (Summer 1988): 286-291;

Stephen Oates, "The Holistic Paradigm and the

1991): 5.

12. The text of the Charter is given in Charles C.

Haynes and Oliver Thomas, eds., Finding Common
Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion and

Public Education (Nashville, TN: The Freedom

Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt

University, 1994), Appendix A.

13. Eck, The Pluralism Project: A New View of the

World s Religions in America, cd rom in production, Harvard University Divinity School provides
some recent information on the growth of nonJudeo-Christian religions in North America.
14. Mircea Eliade, Symbolism, the Sacred, and the Arts,
ed. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona (New York: Crossroad, 1986), and Walter Kaufman, Religions in Four

Dimensions (New York: Reader's Digest Press,

Supreme Court's Search for a New Definition of

Religion," Religion and Public Education 18 no. 1
(1991): 161-175; Theresa McCormick, "Teaching
About Religious Diversity as a Multicultural Issue,"

1976), especially chaps. XIII and XTV draw on the

history of religions to demonstrate the interrelationships between religion and the arts across times

Religion and Public Education 18 no. 1 (1991):

and cultures.

117-128; Ronald Jensen, "Social Change and the

Changing Meaning of Religion in a Pluralistic

Society: Implications for the Public Schools,"

Religion and Public Education 18 no. 1 (1991):
103-115; Gary Brock, "The Academic Study of

Religion in Missouri Secondary Social Studies

Classes," Religion and Public Education 18 no. 1
(1991): 129-140.
7. These projects include but are not limited to the

15. Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy, trans. John W.

Harvey (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923),
chap. IX, "Means of Expression of the Numinous,"
and Kaufman, Religions in Four Dimensions, chaps.

XIII and XIV. Kaufman is less inclined to regard

"Christian" art as particularly "Christian" for, he
argues, it does not represent a new ethos or a new
understanding of humanity, nor does it have its own

distinctiveness from Greek, Hellenistic or Roman

Idaho Humanities Council and Boise State Universi-

features (336-369), but Margaret Miles' more

ty project, "Teaching About Religion in Public

Schools," the North Carolina Humanities Council

sympathetic analysis of Medieval and Reformation

and Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation with the Univer-

sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill seminar series

on religion and the public schools, Western Illinois

art in Image as Insight: Visual Understanding in

Western Christianity and Secular Culture (Boston:
Beacon Press, 1985) shows how indispensable the
visual arts were in Christian religious understanding.

University's "Religious Contours of Illinois Pro-

16. Quoted by Aaron Ridley in "Musical Sympathies:

ject," Connecticut's "Comparative Religions

The Experience of Expressive Music" in The Jour-

Course" in high schools, the Indiana Religious

nal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 53 no. 1 (Winter

Studies Project, the Gladstone, Oregon high school

project, and so on.
8. For instance, see the reports by Margaret Trautman,

"The Reformation as Presented in Six 1990 High

School World History Textbooks" and "World

Religions as Found in Six 1990 World History
Textbooks" in Religion and Public Education 17 no.

1 (Winter 1990): 35-41 and 17 no. 2

(Spring/Summer 1990): 196-200, respectively.
9. Mary Hatwood Futrell, "Education About Religions:

A Public School Responsibility," Religion and

Public Education 13 no. 4 (Fall 1986): 78-80.

10. In an interview with Patricia A. Lines reported in

Religion and Public Education 13 no. 4 (Fall 1986):
81-84.

1995): 49.
17. See Iris M. Yob, "Religious Emotion in the Arts,"
Journal of Aesthetic Education (Winter 1995), in
press.

18. William James, Varieties of Religious Experience,

ed. and intro Martin Marty (Middlesex, England:
Penguin Books, [1902] 1982), 458-461.
19. Horace Bushnell, Preliminary Dissertation on the
Nature of Language as Related to Thought and
Spirit," in God In Christ (Hartford, CT: Brown and

Parsons, 1849), 74-77.

20. Otto, The Idea of the Holy, 59.
21. On this point, David J. Loomis, "Imagination and
Faith Development," Religious Education 83 no. 2
(Spring 1988): 251-263 describes his research on

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82 Philosophy of Music Education Review

the role of poetic imagination in faith development.

22. John and Jane Dillenberger, eds., Paul Tillich: On

Art and Architecture (New York: Crossroad, 1989),
92.
23. Ihid.. 21-31.

39. Block, "The Academic Study of Religion," reports

this lack of clarity in policies regarding controversial subjects to be one of the reasons why teachers
are hesitant about dealing with the academic study
of religion in schools.

24. Ibid., 32.

25. Kelton Cobb, "Reconsidering the Status of Popular
Culture in Tillich's Theology of Culture" in Journal
of the American Academy of Religion LXIII no. 1

(Spring 1995): 53-54. See also John P. Clayton,

The Concept of Correlation: Paul Tillich and the
Possibility of a Mediating Theology (Berlin: Walter
de Gruvter. 1980V

26. Cobb, "Popular Culture," 78.

27. Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith (New York: Harper
Torchbooks, 1957), 2-4; Ultimate Concern: Tillich
in Dialogue, ed. D. MacKenzie Brown (New York:
Harper and Row, 1965), 29, 183; "Religious Symbols and our Knowledge of God," Christian Scholar
38 (September 1955): 192.
28. Tillich, Dynamics of Faith, 3, 4.
29. Jorgensen, "Religious Music in Education," Philos-

ophy of Music Education Review 1 no. 2 (Fall

1993): 109.

30. Reported in Religion and Public Education 15 no.

4 (Fall 1988): 435-440.
. IDia., 433.

32. In late August, 1995, Secretary of Education,

Richard Riley, at the request of President Bill
Clinton, began distributing to schools a directive
that outlines what religious activities are allowed in
schools. These include permitting students to read
Scriptures, pray, talk about their religious commitments, express religious beliefs in class assignments
and homework, distribute religious literature, excuse
themselves from lessons that they find objectionable, and wear religious garb.

33. Elaine Pagels, The Origin of Satan (New York:

Random House, 1995) traces how the concept of the
devil originated in the efforts of early Christians to

define themselves by demonizing their enemiesespecially Jews, pagans, and heretics.

34. Lawrence A. Cremin, ed., The Republic and the

School: Horace Mann on the Education of the Free
Man (New York: Teachers College Press, 1957), 97.

35. Paul Farber, "Tongue-tied: On Taking Religion

Seriously in Schools," Educational Theory 45 no. 1

(Winter 1995): 85-100.

36. Ibid., 100.
37. Martin Marty makes this point in an article written
before the Swarthmore incident, "Around Religion,

About Religion, Of Religion, and Religion: The

Issues of Public School Teaching Today," Religion
and Public Education 15 no. 4 (Fall 1988): 400.
38. Ibid., 390.

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