"Religion is nothing but a crutch for the naive, weak, and desperate."
"Religion is simply a hoax that has been used for centuries to control mind-numbed people."
As a religious person, I've heard all the negative stereotypes. But I have to admit that I was intrigued to find out that despite the supposed takeover of "secularism" in America, it apparently has not affected the citizens of this heavily religious state, or teachers in particular, who have ironically been vilified by the far right in America as lacking in "moral values."
According to University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor James Hartwick, the overwhelming majority of teachers pray privately for their students and also believe that their faith makes them better teachers. Mr. Hartwick, who wrote his UW-Madison doctoral dissertation on "An Investigation into the Spiritual, Religious, and Prayer Lives of Wisconsin Public School Teachers: The Inner Life of the Teacher", found that 91.5 percent of Wisconsin public school teachers pray and 70 percent of them say prayer makes them better at their job. His study included 317 randomly selected Wisconsin K-12 public school teachers, and is one of the first ever studies to tackle what has long been branded a controversial, taboo topic among our nation's educational system.
According to a recent Wisconsin State Journal article, Mr. Hartwick believes that prayer "enhanced his relationships with students when he was a social studies teacher at Burlington High School", and continues to do so today. When asked whether they have been "called by God" to teach, a staggering 24.1 percent of Wisconsin teachers surveyed strongly agreed and 35.3 percent agreed. In addition, the overwhelming majority of teachers surveyed said that they pray for their students.
Mr. Hartwick's overall assertion is that prayer is an extremely important part of the vast majority of teacher's lives. He says that many teachers feel pressure to not talk about their religion amongst co-workers because of perceived negative consequences of doing so.
Mr. Hartwick has been brave to enter the contentious, murky waters of a church and state issue by suggesting that public schools should voluntarily "offer retreats on spirituality and education as a form of professional development for teachers … " as an enhancement mechanism. He also suggests that schools designate a private place at their institutions where teachers of any belief can pray.
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Madison-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, predictably objects to Mr. Hartwick's suggestions, telling the Wisconsin State Journal that Mr. Hartwick's plans would be a "very blatant violation" of the church and state line. When asked about Mr. Hartwick's findings on religious teachers, Gaylor cynically criticized the study's accuracy by stating, "Teachers who are atheists or agnostics might have been reluctant to reveal that in a survey or return it at all."
Ms. Gaylor has long been a hostile opponent of organized religion. She was outraged over Governor Doyle's directive to lower flags to half-staff following the recent death of Pope John Paul II, calling him the "world's leading sexist" and stating, "Let's reserve the honor of half-staff for true American heroes." Ms. Gaylor fails to consider that the flag lowering was not an establishment of any one religion, but rather, a recognition of one of the world's most popular and universally-admired figures whose loss was mourned by members of every religion and lack thereof throughout the world.
Another one of Ms. Gaylor's more flamboyant episodes came after the opening of Madison's new East Side fire station this year. Ms. Gaylor was upset that a deacon presided over the opening (a traditional practice widely used at fire station openings). She denounced the new "faith-based fire department", as she put it, again failing to recognize that deacons are used in fire departments not to proselytize to a specific religious denomination, but rather, to offer guidance and support to people who often undergo extreme stress in what is a very dangerous profession. This same standard applies to the U.S. military.
James Hartwick's study is a fascinating one. If it is, in fact, true that prayer helps teachers perform better at educating our children, then it begs the question — should we find ways to better accommodate Wisconsin's teachers in this arena, and if so, how?
Annie Laurie Gaylor and other anti-religious "crusaders" would love nothing more than to discredit and ruin the reputation of James Hartwick and his study. There are a couple reasons for this. First, Ms. Gaylor and her followers feel threatened by the notion that religion could be such a positive force in the world. It challenges their core beliefs about faith. Second, it goes against the group's secular agenda.
However accurate or inaccurate this study, the influence of prayer on teachers should be further explored. The educational success of Wisconsin's children may depend on it.
Casey Hoff ([email protected]) is a UW student and host of "New Ground with Casey Hoff," live Monday through Friday, 9-11 a.m., on Madison 1670 The Pulse.
