Religion is still relevant in public high school

Jimmy Biblarz, a student in the humanities magnet at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, writes: I recently wrote an article for my school's magazine, The Weltanschauung (Worldview in German), titled "A Plea for Tolerance." It was about how it is incredibly difficult for children raised in religious households to be totally tolerant of people of other faiths, and about the religious discrimination that exists toward gays and women. I discussed intolerance and discrimination in all three Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Islam and Judaism).

"The Welt," as we like to call it, does not have that high of a readership, so I didn't think it would cause much of a stir, especially in my secular and liberal school. But it did. Some students were extremely offended by it and wanted me to print a retraction. Others, including many of my teachers, loved it and thought I "hit the nail on the head." Overall, close to 30 people have come up to me to give me feedback. One person plans to write a rebuttal in the next issue.

When I wrote the article, I thought religion had become irrelevant in the lives of public school children. Religion is never really discussed outside of the classroom, and I figured most of my peers didn't really identify with their family religion, if they had one at all. But upon the publication of the article, I found that religion still plays a role in kids' lives. The intense reaction my article produced changed my opinion.

Religion still matters. Even to rebellious teens, religion can play an important role. Teenagers are trying to find out who they are. They have to deal with gossip, school, homework, parents, hormones, boys, girls and a plethora of other issues. Religion can play a role in this search for identity, even for a population that seems non-religious or even immoral to the outside world. The emotion and passion my article engendered taught me that I could not be quite so brazen in my writing about the sensitive subject.