Religious Discussions present

sophie criscione scriscione.gazette@gmail.com

The representative for Girls’ State and the alternates have been announced N ext week is rivalry week, in celebration of multiple GB vs DO games across soccer, basketball, and wrestling. Be sure to dress up for the spirit days and go to the Rivalry Rally on Friday, February 14.

Remember to also go out and support the varsity basketball teams at Del Oro that Friday night, with the girls game starting at 5:30 and boys at 7.

*** Powderpuffseasonisapproaching, and this one’s for all the junior and senior guys. You know you want to beacheerleaderandshowoffyour true spirit, so sign up as soon as possible in the student government room. You won’t regret it!

Remember that only girls who attended the mandatory player meeting are eligible to play. *** The annual GBHS talent show is on Friday, February 27. Go and see some of our talented classmates perform, including Tasia Thorsteinson, Jack Dugoni, Rathip Rajakumar and Jeremiah Onyango, among many other talented acts. *** All seniors should have their PersonalFinanceCoursefinished. Seniorsshouldsignupforafinal exam as soon as possible if they want to go to senior ball. All testing dates are in February and posted on the school’s calendar. *** National Signing Day is on February 20th. The three athletes who will be signing are May Lin to Pomona College for water polo, Trenton Schmitt to Columbia University for fencing and Jessica Varakuta to Columbia University for rowing. Congratulations to all of the athletes who will be signing. *** A big congratulations to the Girls’ State delegate for GBHS, Kate Carver. She will be attending Girls State over the summer at Claremont McKenna alongside many talented girls from other high schools in California.

Congrats to the other nominees Sophia Tastor, Leah Conforti, Katelyn Sitterud, and Bella Khor. You girls are all amazing! *** Sophie Criscione, a senior, is a Gazette assistant editor.

Gazette illustration /ASHLEY YUNG

Classroom discussions about religion causes misunderstanding in the IB English classroom, leading to a larger conversation about what religious tolerance looks like and how we as a school can work towards being more inclusive.

Understanding different cultures is necessary for a non-offensive dialogue BY MAY LIN mlin.gazette@gmail.com A mong the ideas that founded the American republic was the idea that all people have fundamental rights, one of which is freedom of speech. But what happens when the right for people to communicate their ideas infringes on another person’s opinion? Many court cases relate to the issue of freedom of speech within a classroom setting, whether it applies to students or teachers. Among fraught topics is the issue of religion. The Supreme Court has ruled educators need to “teach, not preach” and “educate, not indoctrinate.’’ However, teachers can still teach religion, as it is still a pivotal part of history and current events and adds to a student’s education. David Tastor has been teaching the International Baccalaureate course in World Religions at Granite Bay High for six years and “knows the sensitive nature of the course,” so he structures his class to make everyone feel safe and comfortable. “When students phrase things in ways that are unintentionally offensive, it’s a matter of teaching them how to rephrase,” Tastor said. “We try to teach them just to understand and be aware of the language they use. (I want to) allow students the opportunity to ask questions and to make it a safe environment, to not laugh or tease when students ask questions when they don’t know.” The class starts off with three rules when discussing religion. The first is: don’t compare your best to their worst. Two, when you want to know, ask someone of that faith. And three, leave with a silence of holy envy. “(Holy envy is) when you’re looking at these religions, whether you believe it or not, whether you’re atheist or religious, is to go ‘that’s pretty incredible that they practice or believe that,’ ” Tastor said. However, talk about religion in educational environments is still controversial. The Constitution supports both sides of the argument as to what’s acceptable and what’s not. Recently, an incident related to religion happened on campus. Phoenix Johnson, who teaches IB English, showed a documentary about Malcom X and his notorious association with a group called the Nation of Islam that didn’t represent the Islamic religion itself. The movie introduced a prophet that married multiple wives who were exceptionally young. Ryan Cochran, a senior in that IB English class, said the debate started as a normal conversation. “(Johnson asked) if (the class) doubted anything with our own religion,” Cochran said. “No one raised their hands.” Johnson then shared her story on how she doubted her religion, which was Christianity, because of her experience with the treatment of and lack of women in Christianity. “She then asked the two Muslim students in the class if they had opinions on the marriage of the older men in the Middle East to younger girls,” Cochran said. “The Muslim students tried to defend that they don’t base all of their religion off of that prophet (in the Nation of Islam).” From that point, according to Cochran, things got confusing. “(Johnson) claimed to have read the Quran and was trying to empathize with (students), but it got twisted,” Cochran said. “I think that her intentions of trying to (demonstrate) her understanding of the religion were conveyed as an attempt to degrade the religion.” The grey area is whether a teacher has the right to voice her ideas about a student’s religion. One student’s family hired an attorney to address the situation and ensure there wouldn’t be additional issues and to make sure the school was listening to their students. “The problem was that it started to get focused on me and (the other student) and our religion,” said senior Nabeel Qureshi, another student in the IB English class. “It was weird for us and uncomfortable because we didn’t exactly know how to respond. I knew it wasn’t of bad faith, and I knew (Johnson) wasn’t trying to be malicious or anything. I think she was just misinformed and misinterpreted the situation that got carried away.” A teacher’s responsibility is to educate students without injecting or denigrating any particular religion. “The problem was that it was toward the end of the period and we had around 15 minutes of discussion,” said Caroline Tak, another student in the IB class. “All of this got opened up, but we never figured anything out,” Tak said. “The whole situation started with the moral ambiguity of religion. “I don’t think her intentions were bad – it wasn’t to make fun of a religion or use her power to force religion on anyone.” This wasn’t a case of religious intolerance or ill intent, but the impact of misconceived interpretation still I knew (Johnson) wasn’t trying to be malicious. I think she just... misinterpreted the situation. – Nabeel Qureshi

had its effects on students. So, how do teachers avoid having this happen in their classrooms? According to Tastor – who regularly has religious leaders of different faiths speak on campus – knowledge is enlightenment. “When I had my speakers on campus, I always invite all the teachers who have the opportunity to come to watch and then hear them speak,” Tastor said. “We have our interfaith panel … which has speakers from five different religions talking on the topic of, ‘What does it mean to believe?’ They’ll go into various questions from there that’s opened to the public.” Despite these positive efforts, this doesn’t diminish the fact that there’s ignorance on the GBHS campus. For example, the Advanced Placement and IB exams in the spring are being held during Ramadan, but compared to Christians who get Easter or Christmas off, the students who celebrate Ramadan don’t get a day off. They still have the same makeup policy as everyone else. “It doesn’t mean people are actively trying to be intolerant, but our system is built in a way where it’s kind of intolerant,” Tastor said. “Kids see it. A kid walks into the classroom and sees a Christmas tree up. Automatically, they know their difference is already pointed out.” Unfortunately, he has also witnessed direct intolerance. “(I’ve seen) groups… on campus that promote certain points of views that are actively (targeting) other groups because of what they believe,” Tastor said. The solution, for Tastor, is simple – we need to know more about each other, not less. “Whether people are purposely intolerant, ignorant or just simply don’t know and can’t define the blurry line on what’s tolerable or not,” Tastor said, “the vast majority agrees the more we can learn about people, the better off.”