Includes bibliographical references and index.

CONTENTS:

Introduction. Contemporary curricular debates -- Book organization -- A change of thinking --
1. History, religion and schooling : a context for conversation. Protestant pluralism and schooling in early America -- Evangelicals and the establishment of "common" schools -- Dealing with dissenters -- From establishmentarians to dissenters --

1. Encounters in law, philosophy, religion and education --

2. Crossing boundaries and becoming the other : voices across borders. Tribalization of America -- The new American tribes -- The church and academe : the education of a secularist -- Voices Along the Border -- Concluding remarks --

3. Dialogue, religion, and tolerance : how to talk to people who are wrong about (almost) everything -- Public dialogue should be governed by conversational restraint -- Tolerance does not depend on moral relativism -- Absolutism and relativism are not useful concepts -- Distinguishing between what schools can discuss and what they can advocate -- Dialogue depends on an adequate grounding of people's perspectives -- Dialogue depends on the virtue of reasonableness --

4. Religion and the textbooks. The Gablers and the Rutherford Institute -- A contemporary critique of civics and history texts -- Conclusion --

5. It's not about the books : textbook controversies and the need for uncertain conversations. Creating oppositional identities -- Simplifying the issues -- Creating silence -- Viewing the half-full glass -- Community dialogue: questing for certainty and uncertainty : the role of teacher and text. Suggested additional readings on textbooks --

6. Why a functional definition of religion is necessary if justice is to be achieved in public education -- A functional view of religion -- A question of choice --

7. Moral education as a form of life -- Two basic approaches -- Beyond specific programs -- Community dialogue : is there a common moral framework that schools can embrace? -- Suggested additional readings on values --

8. Sex education should exclusively endorse abstinence as the only effective prevention of the unacceptable risks of nonmarital sexual relations -- Nonmarital sexual relations cause massive problems -- Decades of "safer-sex" education approaches have not adequately prevented problematic sexual behavior -- Unscientific assumptions pervading failed sex education -- Logic and scientific facts indicate that only exclusive abstinence education will achieve genuine prevention -- The only truly compassionate type of sex education endorses risk elimination, not risk reduction -- Counseling for the sexually involved minority -- Conclusion: universal cross-cultural, compassionate education --

9. Teaching and researching sexualities in a socially responsible manner -- Getting back to basics -- The new basics of sexualities education and research : a conflict perspective -- Conclusion -- Community dialogue : sexual behaviors and sexual cultures -- Suggested additional readings on sexuality education --

10. The fundamentalist right, the "new paradigm," and outcome-based education -- OBE, post-Fordism, and the "new paradigm" in school restructuring -- OBE and the fundamentalist right -- Conclusion --

11. Outcome-Based Education : can it be redeemed? -- Battleground states -- Concerns about scope and values -- Charter schools -- Conclusion -- Community dialogue : a matter of fairness and equity -- Suggested additional readings on Outcome-Based Education --

12. The problem of dogmatism in science education -- The case of evolution by natural selection -- Lessons to be learned --

13. The two controversies over evolution -- Naturalism -- Personal and public opinions -- The task for science educators -- Community dialogue : from six days to 4.6 billion years -- Suggested additional readings on science.