Church v. Theatre: Elevating the Human Experience

EDU 6120 Week 3

The juxtaposition of our two readings for week three could not have been starker: the history of Judeo-Christian cultural and religious values on learning versus the practical and legal issues American educator face. It was a reminder to me the vast expanses of history, moments big and small, that good educators must consider.

The notes and scriptural passages about Judeo-Christian values and knowledge coupled with the highlights of Confucian beliefs and Lao Tzu’s contributions to inner-life and the role that education plays in personal awakening were particularly resonant with me. I was disappointed however, that despite alluding to Buddha early in the notes, there was actually no mention of Buddhism. The path to personal enlightenment – knowing myself as prerequisite to offering valuable care, service or help to another – was introduced through Jesus and my Christian upbringing and was more satisfyingly and cerebrally explored in my exploration of Buddhism. I believe it was the American spiritual teacher Ram Dass who said that we must go outside of the traditions in which we were raised to find meaning and critical appreciation of religion and its value in our life. The inner-work of Buddhism and the familial and traditional elements of Judaism have been those remarkable steps outside my upbringing for me. Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha was my introduction to Buddhism as a sophomore in high school. And yes, now looking back I appreciate the irony that it took a white German author’s interpretation of an Indian’s self-awakening and the Eastern philosophical tradition of one-ness with all beings to expand my horizon.

It was also valuable to see the Hebrew values of memorization, monuments, festivals and temple worship all laid out. All four of these remain integral parts of our culture today and are undoubtedly cornerstones of knowledge, sharing, storytelling and community that influence the majority of Christian traditions that followed. Growing up, I found religious traditions and rituals corny. I think it was likely because simultaneously, I grew up in and around community theater, which in truth, I found more compelling.

This is likely because there was transparency about the suspended disbelief of theater so it was ostensibly more honest to me. I found truth and wisdom in the dramatic experiences of Williams or Miller’s characters on stage, struggling through their slice of Americana, much more so than the struggle of Moses or Jacob. I found profound humor in Neil Simon or Noel Coward’s farces that I was seeing at 8 and 9 years old. Hell, at 10 or 11, I knew every word to the Rent cast album recording mere months after it was released. Theatre was my church. It elevated the human experience for me, allowed me to see other people’s struggles in comparison to my own and taught me how and why to be compassionate.

In contrast, I saw the strings of the performance and performers at church each Sunday. It seemed unrehearsed and disjointed. It seemed sloppy. It is also significant and worth noting that the local community playhouse, Driftwood, was separated by only a parking lot from Our Saviors Lutheran Church. The intimacy of geography plays such an important role in the framing of young person’s experience. My grade school was three blocks west and my high school was across the street from the church and theatre. I digress. The presentation of ritual, tradition and performance I witnessed at church was not only of lower quality than that of the theatre performers next door, but it was disingenuous because it seemed to honor the Divine (i.e. the belief in something bigger than our one self) less. People seemed eerily sycophantic to the pastors as well as other church leaders. All they had done in my estimation was read out of the Bible and in the case of the pastor have an exceedingly boring and often-overwrought monologue. This worship of the clergy not only seems to counter what Marty was objecting against with his 95 Theses (Happy 500^th anniversary btw!) but contrasted to the actors next door whose egos were not center stage but in fact it was the plays and stories that they were elevating.

Cut to 20 years later. I have since had positive church-going experiences – mostly at Unitarian churches, which don’t aim to create community by first labeling the “other.” I studied religion (Christian theology in particular) in college and find ruminations on the big existential questions of life to be some of my inner-world’s deepest satisfactions. Thinking back on my experiences in church as a child, in contrast to the community theatre, I am reminded of a problem that exists in education as well. When the lectern becomes a pulpit, when a teacher demands obedience and cultivates disciples rather than critical thinkers, I believe education fails to reach it higher purpose. A great teacher needs to have self-satisfaction in the work they do and believe in rather than seeking out external validation through the affirmation of their followers, I mean students.

None of us – pastors or teachers, educators both – can perfectly suspend our egos for the sakes of others’ learning. However, we must continue to grow ourselves and reflect on our own life and joy of learning so that the knowledge and wisdom that we impart is meant to motivate others to do the same and not intimidate others through our own self-congratulation.

To step out of the philosophical and reflect on the practical elements of our readings for a moment, I was fascinated by both the case studies involving the precipitating case that lead to FERPA and also the corporal punishment case that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

The FERPA case seems so obvious to me that I had trouble imagining a time when teacher and school records about students would have ever been legitimately closed off to parents. I can’t quite imagine what the pedagogical or practical rationale was behind closing those files. Despite the laws distinctions regarding a teacher’s role in a student’s life, it is my understanding that the best outcomes for students arise when parents and teachers operate from the same understanding and data. The more secrecy, the more discrepancy and how does that best serve a student exactly?

Lastly, I think it is significant as a high school social studies and history teacher to have students consider the Ingraham v. Wright Supreme Court case where the Court decided that the 8^th amendment clause against cruel and unusual punishment was only meant to be applied to criminals and was an inadequate argument in the case of the plaintiff James Ingraham. Corporal punishment seems today both cruel and outmoded. It will be interesting to have students consider that the Supreme Court’s constructionist interpretation of the Constitution that did not protect the individual rights of students in the case of their own physical well-being and liberty.