Although the world became more secular in the last 50 years than ever before, religion is part of humanity. As students of society, we cannot filter our curriculum; Religion is part of the history of events shaping society.

Yes, religion relies on faith, and some students do not believe in one faith or another, a right the First Amendment provides. But students should not remain illiterate in regard to religious perspectives, especially when in Philosophy 231, a professor might ask you to discuss “Thou shalt not kill,” a Mosaic law principle, often rendered incomplete because the discussion ignores centuries of religious commentary on the subject.

In various religious perspectives, “Thou shalt not kill” extends much further into theology, as does the principle of retribution, or “eye for an eye.” These principles have much more advanced definitions in religious contexts than their face values alone provide. For example, most people think “eye for an eye” means you can cut off the hand of someone who cuts off yours. In religious commentary, though, it means “no more than an eye for an eye.” It is a concept born of mercy, not cruelty.

Moving to anthropology classes, you may learn about the abstention of pork in the Muslim diet. Some say this is because pigs carried trichinosis; others say pigs were not domesticated until after the Quran was written. Still others say pig herding was not good for arid climates, and so the rule was to keep people from inferior herding practices.

Yet all of these would be wrong to a pious Muslim, who could tell you the real reason why pork shawarma is not on the menu at Lebanese restaurants in Chicago today.

Another anthropological question: Why would a Christian Trobriander burn books of magic spells that passed from generation to generation? Secularists believe he is destroying history and they can’t imagine why, but pious Christians might recognize he is putting bad theology to death. This logic is not in the textbook, and generally not taught in lecture, but it makes perfect sense to Christians who often attempt to put away bad theology in their own lives.

More fun facts: Did you know Benjamin Franklin, considered by History Channel documentaries to be a Freemason with near-atheist beliefs, once wrote poetry from uniquely Christian angles? Did you know Martin Luther King, Jr. took much of his speech material from the prophet Isaiah? Did you know Prohibition may have been a political effort to bring the second coming of Jesus to fruition? Did you know Thanksgiving, a national holiday in America, may have come from the Jewish festival of Sukkot, a harvest holiday the Christian pilgrims were trying to emulate?

The fact that you probably didn’t know these things from previous education proves education may be putting facts before biases.

Albert Einstein once said: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Can you imagine if the modern world still believed Biblical preconceptions as scientific law? Ever since Galileo and Copernicus were excommunicated for radical theories, science and religion have fought. Yet both are part of history, and inherent in understanding society. We cannot ignore that.

Be careful of committing a real sacrilege; The world contains both science and religion, and they are not able to survive without the other.

Even theologians have begun to accept this; It is time for education to recognize that filtering religion out of the discussion is just as evil as the attempt to erase science during the Renaissance era.