The Public High School Class That Changed My Life: Studying World Religions in Oklahoma
In a state most people write off, one teacher created space for honest, unbiased conversations about the world’s religions….and even let his class use Wikipedia.
How Comparative Religion Changed My Life
Comparative Religion class changed my life. No joke.
I enrolled in this class as an elective of my own choosing in my second year of high school. Nobody asked me to, recommended it to me, or influenced me in any way. I made the decision on my own, driven purely by personal interest.
A Radical Religion Teacher in Conservative Oklahoma
Our teacher was a married White heterosexual Christian man with children who also served as a volleyball coach. What made him stand out was his approach to teaching and managing the classroom.
The reason I mention this specifically is because of the reputation Oklahoma has nationally as a hotbed of conservative political thought and religious practice. Yet, it is this conservative rural state that served as the springboard to deepening and diversifying my comparative religious education and perspective.
I never felt that any of my teachers (the majority of whom were White) promoted any religion in any way while attending public educational institutions throughout my life. Yes, I know about the law, but I honestly never felt they brought their biases into the classroom in a way that was openly displayed or directed toward students who didn’t necessarily fit the majority.
I find it ironic and frankly hilarious that parents and religious leaders want to restrict young people’s education about different religions because they’re afraid their children might lose faith or like something different. Have they no faith? Pun intended. 😄
I’ve recently been learning about the religious conversions that took place in the Bengal region and how they continued during British colonial rule. I find this fascinating due to the enormous religious syncretism involved.
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to meet up with my high school teacher and excitedly talked about Caodaism. He mentioned that he hadn’t heard of it before. That moment when he openly admitted not knowing something despite being an educator for 15+ years and working on his Ph.D. dissertation was powerful.
Yes, I still think he’s a badass. Justin, you rock! Sorry, I mean Dr. Justin! 😀
Wiki-ligion: When Textbooks Fail and Teachers Innovate
Our official assigned textbook for the class was terrible. None of the students understood anything being explained the writing style was dry and inaccessible. I think it was written by an old White guy.
Recognizing this, our teacher made a radical decision (I still think it was radical to this day). He asked us to use Wikipedia for reading on the assigned topics instead. I had never had a teacher do that especially in high school, where we were used to receiving textbooks for free.
Classroom Dynamics and Unexpected Growth
I never understood why my teacher continuously engaged in what I considered pointless conversations with an airheaded football player who seemed to enjoy playing devil’s advocate just for the sake of it.
Now, I understand the value of those discussions, especially in the current climate of American society.
What I’ll never forget is how fair he was with every student. He allowed all kinds of questions and didn’t ridicule anyone. That worked out in my favor, as I experienced firsthand during a memorable class discussion.
The Great Circumcision Circus (Yes, It Was Exactly What It Sounds Like)
One day, I bravely raised my hand and timidly asked the meaning of circumcision. The class erupted in laughter. My ears rang with snickers, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment. I sincerely hoped the ground would swallow me.
My teacher calmly said, “Hey now, wait wait wait…there’s nothing wrong with not knowing what that means,” while trying to quiet the class. He started explaining, and within seconds, I understood.
I immediately blurted out, “OH! I know what that means and what that is. I just didn’t know the English name for it. Thanks for telling me. We have a different name for it in my culture.”
He stopped and nodded approvingly. I think he asked me what it was called in my culture, and I have a faint memory of stammering something because my mind had gone blank. I couldn’t remember the word because I was still aware of everyone’s eyes on me.
Belief Buffet: What I Learned About Atheism and World Religions
To say I learned a lot in this class would be an understatement. It was the first time I was introduced to the concepts of atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, animism, Rastafarianism, and Shintoism.
This exposure to diverse belief systems was eye-opening, especially given my monotheistic background. It feels strange now to think that I wasn’t aware of atheism at the time but it makes sense.
Growing up in a monotheistic religious community and a conservative society, I didn’t know anyone who openly identified with anything remotely secular or atheistic. Even if someone wasn’t very religious, the only way to survive socially was to at least pretend to subscribe to group norms.
It was also the first time I formally learned the basic tenets of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism: three major world religions originating in the Indian subcontinent. I received a solid foundational understanding of world religions and carried that knowledge into my World Literature and World History classes the next year.
Later on, my comparative religious education deepened through Cultural Geography, Anthropology, Political & Cultural Ecology, and Humanities classes in college. Culture and religion are inextricable, no matter where you live or what you believe in.
College Chronicles: My First Eastern Philosophy Class
What Mind-Bending Concepts Taught Me About Binary Thinking
In my third year of undergrad, I enrolled in an Eastern Philosophy class: my first philosophy course ever. I thought I knew a little something about Eastern religions and philosophies. I didn’t. I was pushed intellectually every class like never before.
My professor was a bit weird, but funny and awesome in the way he could explain complex ideas (is there such a thing as a normal philosophy teacher?). Every day, I’d wonder: what mind-bending statement is he going to make today? 🤯
There were no absolute, binary, or RIGHT answers, just concepts and questions to stretch our thinking. Once again, the message was clear: binary thinking doesn’t work.
I wanted to enroll in more of his classes, as he had a positive reputation among other students, but couldn’t due to financial and scheduling constraints.
Bhagavad Gita Got Me Good: Venturing into Vedic Vistas
We had to read an English translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran. I ended up reading beyond the assigned parts, it was fantastic! It felt like a self-help book. The broader concepts made sense, and I wanted to apply them to my life.
Buddha’s Bootcamp: Nirvana or Bust!
This reminded me of my earlier encounter with Buddhist principles in high school. I had the same reaction to the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path: “Cessation of suffering is attainable in this life? Sign me up!”
But then I paused. Be disciplined? Avoid attachment? Let go of desire?
Umm… major doubts on implementation in my own life. 😬
On Faith, Ignorance, and the Religious Spectrum
Lately, I’ve been thinking about why I’m so bothered by people who blindly accept whatever they’re told, especially when it comes from figures they trust, like family, religious leaders, or political figures. Most of these individuals don’t actually know much about other religions themselves, so how can they be trusted to provide accurate information?
Sometimes I can’t believe what people say out loud, thinking it’s true. I often find myself biting my tongue, resisting the urge to ask: do you even know the foundations of… anything?
I’ve realized I probably have a different mindset because of how I was taught religion as an academic, experiential, and cultural study. I had the opportunity to learn in neutral academic spaces, visit places of worship, and actually talk with people from a wide range of spiritual backgrounds.
I’ve witnessed diversity in religious practice firsthand. The theoretical tenets, denominational variations, and actual lived practices of religion are vastly different and influenced by region, language, ethnicity, and more.
Also, I studied religion through sociology, history, psychology, cultural geography, philosophy, and anthropology. For me, the idea of a spectrum first came through religion, not gender or sexuality. The word “spectrum” still makes me think of spirituality before anything else. And maybe that’s part of what makes my perspective different.
Religious identity, in theory and in practice, is never monolithic. And neither is belief.
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