Why Can't We Be Friends - The Role of Inter-Faith Exposure in Early Childhood Education

You don't have to look too far back in time to recognize how far our society has come in our attitudes towards racially integrated playmates. Whether it's because we are more educated and more embracing of the idea, or because we have simply been forced to this outcome as a result of the world's dynamics - probably a hybrid of the two - black children playing with white children playing with Hispanic children is now the norm rather than the exception. Twenty years ago this was not the case. I'm not so idealistic (naive?) as to suggest that the issue of racial harmony is all in the past, but we are way ahead of where we were as a society just two decades ago.

The next step in this area of early childhood education is a doozy and not for the faint hearted - spiritual diversity. Close your eyes and picture the same playground that now houses our black, white and Hispanic children. Now picture them as Christian, Muslim and Jewish - black, white or Hispanic, take your pick. What is your knee jerk reaction to this scenario? Does it invoke positive feelings, negative feelings, a sense of defensiveness, concern, confusion, or all of the above? Good, bad or indifferent - in this author's eyes it is all good - diversity is here to stay. Neighborhoods built around ethnic or faith based lines are becoming fewer and fewer and mixed marriages are becoming more commonplace. In response to the question, "How are you going to raise your children," a spiritually diverse couple that I am friendly with- the husband is Jewish and the wife is Muslim - replied with one of the greatest lines I have heard - "with lots and lots of love." Granted, the proverbial 'love conquers all' is an over simplified response to a very complex issue, but they did hit at the heart of the matter which is that they made loving their kids the priority that drives the rest of their parental decisions and actions.

At the end of the day, the converging forces of globalization, immigration, and the high value that our very own country places on diversity (see our higher learning of education system) are putting the issue of spiritual diversity front and center. Respect, compassion and understanding are not confined to racial diversity. As I said, this next step is a doozy - better that we manage it than chance it in the hands of some misguided souls.