Vouching for Tolerance at Religious Schools

Critics say the schools promote division. The research says otherwise

On President Obama’s recent visit to Ireland, he offered a surprising explanation of the enduring tensions there: “If towns remain divided—if Catholics have their schools and buildings, and Protestants have theirs—if we can’t see ourselves in one another, if fear or resentment are allowed to harden, that encourages division. It discourages cooperation.” Given his use of the word “we,” it is hard to avoid the conclusion that this is also how the president views religious “schools and buildings” in the United States.