‘Religious Literacy’: Some Considerations and Reservations

In recent years “religious literacy” advocacy has gained a significant following, both academic and non-academic. Furthermore, it is widely accepted that attainment of religious literacy (and the reduction of religious illiteracy – ignorance about religions, either explicitly or by implication) will bring social benefits or cure societal ills. Yet, the term “religious literacy” itself remains poorly defined; neither have the benefits touted by advocates of “religious literacy” been subjected to empirical testing. Instead, reasons for the ready adoption of the term can be found in its particular genealogy, and in its relation to advocacies for other “literacies”. Moreover, especially the advocacy of basic literacy (i.e., of literacy, literally speaking) is historically entangled with Christian theologies and other ideologies, a history giving rise to what Harvey Graff once called the “literacy myth” linking increased literacy to social improvements or progress. Thus, finally, the particular resonance of “religious literacy” in Religious Studies and related academic circles may reflect the inescapable historical character of our particular academic enterprise as “ex-theological.”