The Department of Religious Studies at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the oldest departments of its kind in a public university. Founded in 1947, it will complete its first half-century this year. It is the only UNC department whose legal existence has ever been seriously questioned, due to fears that the state would get into the business of training ministers of one church or another. Today the department has embraced the role of a key humanities department, with strong teaching and research on the history, literature, art, philosophy, and theory of religion. By educating students about the history of religion, and particularly about the religions of others, we prepare them to be responsible citizens in a pluralistic society.
Polls suggest that religion is increasingly coming into the spotlight in the United States.
According to Publishers Weekly, religious nonfiction is the hottest growth industry in publishing, eclipsing even fiction with an annual sales increase last year of 27 percent. While some secularist portions of the academy are perhaps unfriendly to any serious consideration of religion, it would be a mistake to enshrine anyone's theology in the state university. Our duty to the citizens of this state and the nation demand instead that we study religion as a critical part of our common humanity.