Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

In This Episode

For Educators

Religion and Politics: The Battle Over the Judiciary – Procedures For Teachers

In This Lesson

Prep — Preparing for the lesson
Steps — Conducting the lesson
Extension — Additional Activities


Prep

Media Components

Computer Resources:

  • Modem: 56.6 Kbps or faster.
  • Browser: Netscape Navigator 4.0 or above or Internet Explorer 4.0 or above.
  • Personal computer (Pentium II 350 MHz or Celeron 600 MHz) running Windows® 95 or higher and at least 32 MB of RAM.
    Macintosh computer: System 8.1 or above and at least 32 MB of RAM.
  • RealPlayer
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 or higher. Download the free Adobe Acrobat reader here:
    http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Bookmarked sites and video resources:

Before teaching this lesson, bookmark all of the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom, create a word-processing document with all of the Web sites listed as hyperlinks and email to each student (or type out the URL’s and print), or upload all links to an online bookmarking utility such as www.portaportal.com, so that students can access the information on these sites. Make sure that your computer has necessary media players, like RealPlayer, to show streaming clips (if applicable).

Preview all of the sites and videos before presenting them to your class.

RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY Web sites:

Other sites:

Materials:

Teachers will need the following supplies:

  • Board and/or chart paper
  • Ideally, a screen on which to project the video clips
  • Handouts of Web resources if computers are not available in the classroom
  • Copies of the Student Organizer 1 and Student Organizer 2

Students will need the following supplies:

  • Computers with the capacities indicated above
  • Notebook or journal
  • Pens/pencils

Steps

— Lesson 1 (2004 Election Outcomes) —

Introductory Activities:

  1. To begin ask the students to explain what they know about the role of religion in the 2004 presidential race. Chart their responses. Examples might include that President Bush received the evangelical vote, Catholics voted evenly between Kerry and Bush, and many Muslims voted for Kerry.
  2. Ask the students to read the article “God and Politics” from the Religion and Ethics Newsweekly 2004 Viewer’s Guide. Explain that this article was written before the outcome of the election and that it explores the roles religion might play in the 2004 presidential race.
  3. After the students have read the article, ask them what they learned about the strategies of the Bush and Kerry campaigns in attempting to capture particular religious voters. Ask the students to use what they know from the article and what they have learned from other media sources to make a prediction for how they think religious groups voted in the 2004 election.
  4. Ask the students to identify different religious groups that voted in the 2004 election. Chart their responses. The list should include Evangelical Protestants, Mainline Protestants, Catholics, Other Christians, Jews, Muslims, Unaffiliated. Next to each group ask the student to predict, using a percentage, how they think each religious group voted in the 2004 election.
  5. Hand out the results from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life’s “The American Religious Landscape and the 2004 Presidential Vote Report,” pages 1 and 2. Have the students review the report and ask them to note the differences between the predictions they made and the actual voting patterns in the report. You can write the actual voting percentages of each religious group next to the predicted percentages of the students. For homework ask the students to read the entire report and be prepared to discuss the report during the next class. You can handout copies of the report or have students visit the Web site and read the report online.

Learning Activities:

Activity 1 — Religion in the Second Term

  1. Begin by discussing what the students learned about the voting patterns of religious groups in the 2004 election according to the Pew Report. You can discuss various findings from the report including, the key issues concerning voters, the change in voting patterns of some voting groups in the 2004 election, or the importance of religion to the electorate. Conclude the discussion by asking students if they agree that the 2004 election caused polarization to occur in the religious landscape and where they think this polarization is headed.
  2. Now that students understand how religion impacted the 2004 presidential election, explain that they will continue this theme by shifting their focus to the role religion is currently playing in George W. Bush’s second presidential term.
  3. Then introduce the following RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY video segment, which investigates the hopes of religious conservatives, moderates and liberals for George W. Bush’s second presidential term.
  4. Distribute Student Organizer 1. As they watch the video segment, ask students to note the hopes of each religious group — conservative, moderate and liberal — and who, in the video, represents each group.
  5. At the conclusion of the video ask the students to take some time and free write any thoughts and reactions. Ask them to identify points that they agree or disagree with as they were presented in the video.
  6. When the students are finished, conduct a discussion of the video — you may use the following questions as a guide:
    • What are the hopes of religious conservatives?
    • What are the hopes of religious moderates?
    • What are the hopes of religious liberals?
    • When Mr. Podesta said that issues like poverty, economic justice and the concerns of the poor are not in the public square, do you agree or disagree? Explain why you agree or disagree.
    • Does the new religious rhetoric change the nature of the discussion of poverty, economic justice, and welfare? If so, how do they think religion reframe these issues?
    • When the reporter Kim Lawton explains that, “big fights are expected over judicial nominees, and in particular, any new appointments to the Supreme Court,” what do you think she means? Why do you think there will be a big fight?
    • What do they think Dr. Land meant when he said “A runaway imperial judiciary?”

Activity 2 — Judicial Nominees

  1. Explain that now that the students have an overview of various religious issues being played out in the second term, they will investigate one specific issue with religious implications — judicial nominees.
  2. To introduce the topic, show the following RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY video segment, which investigates the controversy over the nomination of federal appeals court judges who are accused by some as having religious agendas.
  3. As they watch the video segment, ask students to take notes on the issues that are presented in the video.
  4. At the conclusion of the video, ask the students to take some time and free write any thoughts and reactions. Ask them also to free write about a topic they would like to research and present related to judicial nominations.
  5. Distribute Student Organizer 2. Break the students into groups of 4-5 students and explain that each group will investigate and explore the issues surrounding judicial nominations, their connection to religion, and present their findings in a formal class presentation. Instruct them to use the Student Organizer 2 to help the groups organize their work. Topics of presentations may include a profile of the issues surrounding a particular nominee, the role of religion in the controversy over judicial nominees, the controversy over the “nuclear option,” and the issues (abortion, gay marriage, etc.) at play, including legal ramifications, in nominating judicial candidates. NOTE: It is recommended that over the next several class sessions you set aside time for the students to work in groups. Explain that each group should decide a topic or theme that they will focus on for their presentation. They should also assign and coordinate specific tasks for each group member to complete. For example, one group member can be in charge of researching, another in charge of creating presentation materials, another in charge of writing the presentation, and so forth. During each class session, they will report on their progress and make group decisions for moving forward.
  6. The following resources will get the students started on researching the issue; students should conduct additional research – online, print, etc. for their presentation.
  7. Explain that each presentation should be 5-10 minutes in length and the groups can utilize any media they wish. Explain that the students should be prepared to field any questions at the conclusion of their presentation.

Culminating Activity/Assessment

  1. Depending on the number of students, reserve one or two class sessions for the presentations.
  2. After each group has presented, offer the class the opportunity to ask questions.
  3. After all the groups have presented, hold a discussion about the role of religion in judicial nominations. Use the following questions as a guide:
    • How do you see the current controversy of the nominations of federal appeals court judges impacting future Supreme Court nominees?
    • Do you think the religious views of judicial nominees should be a consideration in their nomination? Why or why not?
    • If you were in the U.S. Senate explain what qualities you would look for in a judicial candidate? What kinds of characteristics would concern you? Should the personal or religious opinions of judicial candidates be a concern, especially if they lie outside the views of the majority of Americans?
    • Of the judicial nominees who were being opposed (Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William H. Pryor Jr.), identify some pros and cons for each candidate becoming a federal appeals court judge?
  4. Ask the class to identify areas they would like to learn more about in terms of how religion impacts politics. Chart their responses. Topics may include faith-based initiatives, the controversy surrounding teaching creationism or intelligent design along with evolution in schools, and prayer in schools.
  5. To conclude have each student write a short reflection paper (1-2 pages) sharing their experiences with a small group. Ask them to write about the role they played, the roles their fellow group members played, their thoughts on how well they collaborated, and what they would do differently in the future to improve the experience of working in a group. This reflection paper can be used as an assessment for their group work.

Extension Activities:

  • Using topics the students generated in the Culminating Activity on what they still want to learn about the intersection of religion and politics, reassign the students to groups and have them select the topic they want to research to create another presentation. This time they will each present on a different topic in order to teach their fellow students about their topic.
  • Plan a lesson that uses the Thirteen Ed Online lesson plan “Politics and Religion: Targeting Faith When It Counts” to teach how the Democratic and Republican parties use religion as part of their political platform and to examine with the students different religious voting blocs and how religion informs election day decisions.
  • Use the Religion and Ethics Newsweekly lesson plan “Faith-Based Initiatives: Separation of Church and State” as a springboard for further debates. This lesson is written for elementary to middle school students, but you can use the ideas in the lesson to create activities for high-school age students.

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