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ON COMMON GROUND Guide for Teachers and Students
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Have each person in the group read one or two of these documents. What interesting information do the documents reveal? What attitudes and experiences have shaped the encounters between Native Americans and Christians? What issues are still at stake in that encounter today?
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Refer to the Native Peoples section and the Christian section of the CD-ROM. Use the Connections to read Profiles of Native Americans today, some of whom identify themselves as both Native and Christian. And look at "Encounter in the Courts" in the Today's Challenges section.
3. Freedom of Religion, Then and Now
Freedom of religion is promised in the United States Constitution. What was included in this important document? In what ways has the principle of religious freedom been tested as America has become more religiously diverse? What are the new challenges in making good on the promise of religious freedom now?
Read the sections "Establishment or Tolerance" and "The 'Free Exercise of Religion," and divide into groups to study the documents. Follow the Connections to the court cases, the public schools, and the other public issues of religious freedom in America today.
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How were the principles of the First Amendment formulated? What does it mean, in practical terms, to speak of the "free exercise" of religion and the "nonestablishment" of religion? What do you think Tocqueville meant when he said that in America, religion and democracy march in the same direction, rather than being at odds with each other?
In Today's Challenges, one of the documents associated with the essay "From Diversity to Pluralism" is a statement made by American Catholics and Muslims in 1976, affirming the importance of America's commitment to freedom of religion.
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What distinctive perspectives do Catholics and Muslims bring to the question of religious freedom? Do you think majority and minority groups have different perspectives on this question?
If you are willing to tackle the language of the Supreme Court, look at “Encounter in the Courts" in the Today's Challenges section. Divide into teams to study and discuss the peyote case and the Santeria case and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
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What do you think are the issues in each case? What parts of the judges' statements impressed you the most? What was the purpose of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act? This Act was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1997. Look up the text of this decision on the Supreme Court's web page and find out why (City of Boerne v. Flores No. 95–2074 (1997)).
