Epistemic Evaluation of Religious Claims in Public Schools: A Response to Suzanne Rosenblith

Abstract

The position the authors challenge in this article, one most notably advocated by Suzanne Rosenblith, suggests that religious study has a legitimate place in public education if and only if teachers and students grapple with the epistemic superiority of competing theistic claims. In this rejoinder, the authors propose that Rosenblith's suggestion faces 3 insurmountable hurdles to become an achievable education objective: (1) Rosenblith fails to articulate how religious claims might be evaluated epistemologically. Instead, she candidly admits there are presently no “clearly identifiable standards by which to measure religious and moral claims.” (2) In the absence of “clearly identifiable standards” to evaluate religious truth claims an untenable situation is created for schools, parents, students and teachers. Rosenblith's attempt to evaluate competing religious claims may foster increased conflict between different religious traditions. (3) The foundation, or “wider context,” required to support religious truth claims is itself epistemologically problematic.