Clergy from left, Father John Daniel of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Rev. Sean Smith of White Rock Methodist Church, Father Theophan Mackey of Job of Pochaiv Orthodox Church and Rev. Nicolé Raddu Ferry of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Courtesy photo

EDUCATION News:

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, four clergy leaders from “Team Jesus” presented to Los Alamos High School (LAHS) Teacher Tracy Thompson’s Humanities class. For this particular day “Team Jesus” consisted of Father Theophan Mackey of Job of Pochaiv Orthodox Church, Father John Daniel of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Rev. Nicolé Raddu Ferry of Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Rev. Sean Smith of White Rock Methodist Church.

For many years this class has created a space for high school students to learn about different religions and spiritual practices.

What we have all learned was that whether or not your family or you as an individual engages in a specific religious practice, it’s important for children to understand the history and cultural implications of all religions, which are, of course, complicated.

Think about the statement: “Public schools shouldn’t preach. But they should teach kids about religion.” In this town of Los Alamos, knowledge is the foundation of so much of what we do in our lives. Exposing students to a bird’s-eye view of what religion is and how it functions in our society helps them learn respect for other peoples’ behaviors and choices. Such respect is important if we want to continue to live in a society that supports religious freedom. Religion is intimately attached to cultural identity for the majority of people in the world, so by not teaching children about multiple religions, we’re not fully educating them about cultures, many of which they may encounter while living in such a diverse society as the United States.

LAHS Teacher Tracy Thompson opens the door of learning by having a vast variety of religions and spiritual practices to empower our students in Los Alamos to respect differences, to have enough information to ask questions and to understand the complexities of religion and spiritual practices in our lives.