Christianity in the Chinese classroom.

So, as part of one of my classes, I teach my kids about US and British history.  It is absolutely impossible to never mention Christianity, though I try to do it in a contextual way.  Problem is, my students don't even know the most basic things.  So, to explain the whole Henry XIII debacle, I had to talk about Catholicism and some of its dogma.  Frankly, even I was a little bored by the point, so after explaining what "hell" was (since I had to explain consequences for divorce), I told the story of Adam and Eve.  I told it as a very silly story, with sound effects and funny voices for Eve and the serpent.  Now, I'm not sure if that was a very good idea.  The way I told it would have offended both Christians and people who don't want their children to learn anything about Christianity. 

My real question is: what guidance do you get from your school about how to treat religion?  I know it wouldn't come up in just an oral English class, but you have to mention religion in any class on Western civilization, right?  I get zero instruction, beyond "your students seem to like you, keep it up," so I'm worried I'll make some terrible error just because I don't know how to treat certain subjects.

I guess it really is a matter of keeping it theoretical, that is, not suddenly saying something wrong which could be perceived as missionary activity.
My school just told me not to speak about religion, period. So, when the students asked about it, I would merely reply that I was a heathen and therefore could not tell them anything about the subject, which was an absolute lie.
There was, of course, the time when I had to explain to a class that Jesus and Santa were not the same person but that is another story.

I don't get into teaching them about religion.  I point out that Christianity has several varieties, beginning with Henry who wanted to divorce and remarry and the students really don't care beyond that.

In my culture classes we talk about the impact different religions have on different societies and include all the major ones, plus Confucianism in the survey.  I also ensure that they know how many/few people in different countries are really interested in religion.  As an off-shoot of so many missionaries over here teaching, many of the students seem to think all westerners are very religious.   

Keep it at an academic level and be sure to add other information about other religions in the same vein. Relate it to how even though most Chinese don't believe in any religion, they are still influenced by Buddhism (Qing Ming Jie etc) and Confucianism.

... my students don't even know the most basic things.  So, to explain the whole Henry XIII debacle, I had to talk about Catholicism and some of its dogma. ...

An interesting question, though definitely not one I'd bring up in class, is whether there is much of a parallel between Henry creating the Anglican Church and recent events in China, with Beijing not recognising papal authority and appointing its own bishops etc. Sounds like pretty much the same thing to me.

If you're not proselytising, relax.  You don't have to pretend religion doesn't exist; heck, check out Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Animism...

That said, I get uncomfortable with the subject, too.  I get around it by reminding myself (and answering if asked) that I have no clue which if any, including atheism, is the Rght One.

Actually, I have my own religion, The One Line, but feel no particular need to spread the good word.

Don't worry about it. It's a necessary part of teaching about Henry VIII. The hard part is that most don't know the English for, nor how to say, "Catholic" and "pope" in Chinese. I guess they don't get that vocabulary in their Chinese-taught classes.  . The electrnic dictionaries come out, I ask the Class Dictionary "how to say" and she (it's always a she) tells the rest of the class, and from there the lesson flows smoothly.

Thereafter, I just mimic the sign of the cross movement (TPR) every time I use those two words and they get the gist.

When I do my Henry VIII lecture, I do a little skit where Henry picks up the phone and calls the pope in Rome to ask him for a divorce. It takes about 5 seconds for them to register that, hey, there were no phones in the 16th century. That means they are paying attention (finally). Then the lesson begins to roll.  The pope calls the King of Spain (Henry's first wife's uncle) to check it out, then calls Henry back and says, NO DIVORCE! So Henry starts his own church, divorces Catherine of Aragon, and marries the sister of his lover. Roll on...

One year, while I was role-playing all three phone calls, I back on the teaching platform, except I was already at the edge. I tumbled backwards and, in that fleeting moment of "Oh, Shit", I was actually able to kick my feet up and complete a backward tumble and end up on my feet. (That was about 8 years and 40 pounds ago-I'd be dead if it happened now.) I placed my little finger-thumb handset back to my ear and said, "That's right! I'll start my own church!" The gasps of the students at my fall, turned to applause. Last year, I saw an old student from that time and she said they all still remember old34's Henry VIII lesson.

These days we have cellphones, so Henry, the pope and the King Of Spain use cellphones. Also, the students love the 6 wives part (except those students named Anne, Jane, and Kathryn, Catherine, or Katherine).

At the end of the lesson, I show them the following page and we have a beauty contest where everyone votes for one of the wives:

http://tudorhistory.org/wives/

The boys usually go for the 16 year old Anne Boleyn, but the girls usually vote for Katherine Parr because "she looks Chinese"  . I guess it's the light skin, moon eyebrows, and small mouth. Whatever.

Anyway, handle it with a little humor and the religious aspects will go right over their tiny little heads. The class monitors' reports won't even mention that religion was discussed.

Here, (for free!) are the two questions about Henry VIII that I use on my UK test:

Henry VIII was married to many women. Which of the following was NOT one of Henry VIII’s wives’ names?      a. Mary   b. Jane     c. Catherine     d. Anne

Why did the Church of England break away from the Catholic Church in 1533?
a. England’s army defeated the Pope’s armies.     
b. King Henry VIII wanted a divorce.
c. The Catholics refused to enter into trade agreements with England.
d. Religion is the opium of the people.

Believe it or not, I got 1 or 2 students who answer "d." every semester...always they are boys who sit in the last row.

This one is a tricky problem here. Teaching international business or Managing Culture classes I have to discuss religion as part of culture. And every year I get someone tell me I can't talk about religion. I simply reply that "i am not talking about religion, I am talking about doing business with other countries where religion plays an important role so that you will be prepared when you begin your illustrious careers as int'l entrepreneurs". It is a good thing that sarcasm goes right over there heads most of the time.

There's an old saying that there are only three types of expat -- missionaries, mercenaries and misfits. Trying to classify people this way can be amusing at parties or during boring meetings.

I'd say most of us have elements of all three. The Missions need not have anything to do with religion; you might want to teach them sane driving, or Democracy, or the Scientific Method, or modern management or ...

As I mentioned in other threads, in my contract it states that we can't have discussions or teach our students about religion, politics and other sensitive matters. But it is impossible not to mention, I agree. I try to make it as neutral as possible. I haven't had my students asking me about my religion except for whether I was Christian or not. I say: "No, I'm not". "Are you Muslim?" - "Nope" - "Ok".  When you teach history, you have to mention religion just because lots of stuff happened in the name of it or rather people used to justify their actions with it. Even Chinese kids have general understanding that some people are religious and they know Christianity, Buddhism and Islam (not the depths, but the definitions).

 The standard Chinese contract states you " must not engage in any religious  activities". Then they turn around and ask you to teach students about Christmas and Ramadan. Bit of a contradiction ain't it?

 The guidelines set forth by the head of our foreign languages department state that we can teach aspects of various religions but we can't encourage people to follow a particular faith. I'm willing to bet that's fairly universal.

At my first uni they asked the foreign teachers to put on a Christmas concert.

In Xi'an they play  Oh, Come All Ye Faithful and a few other well known carols in the shops and malls during the Christmas season.

Do you think they actually realize they engage people around into a religious activity by playing those carols?  They are just... followers! Blind followers. As much as it is funny, it is SCARY. 

At my first uni they asked the foreign teachers to put on a Christmas concert.

In Xi'an they play  Oh, Come All Ye Faithful and a few other well known carols in the shops and malls during the Christmas season.

And Auld Lang Syne year round, and Jingles Bells and the Christmas decorations never come down!

At Christmas time I might teach a couple of Christmas songs - Six White Boomers, Little Drummer Boy, 12 Days of Christmas.

The standard Chinese contract states you " must not engage in any religious  activities". Then they turn around and ask you to teach students about Christmas and Ramadan. Bit of a contradiction ain't it?

 The guidelines set forth by the head of our foreign languages department state that we can teach aspects of various religions but we can't encourage people to follow a particular faith. I'm willing to bet that's fairly universal.

Not sure it is a contradiction at all. Religious activities would be hymn singing, organizing the Friday prayer or just plain preaching. Religion, when boiled down to the pure basics, consist of theory. One can easily teach the theory of religion without ever touching upon the one aspect that makes religion different from other theories attempting to explain existence and our existence, namely faith. Just take Christmas. Why Christmas is celebrated is easy to explain, just as it is easy to explain that, to a lot of people, the religius aspect of Christmas has gone the way of the dodo and disco. After having explained Christmas, then one goes on to explain that Hanukkah falls in December too and explain that holiday, marking the difference between Christianity and Judaism. Then explain the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, which falls on the 20th of December, why it's done, how, where and such things. I am sure the Hindu's have some festival in December too. As long as it is kept in a theoretical manner, everything should be fine. Also, there is a lot of sayings and expressions in the English language which is, in one way or the other, connected to religion. Understanding the basics of Christianity can, in some cases, bring with it a deeper understanding of some linguistic aspects. If done properly, there is no difference between explaining religions and explaining Montaigne or Camus or Sartre.

You can't always avoid the subject of religion in the classroom. Not sure you necessarily even want to.

Holidays are big cultural icons, of course, and when asked I will explain the meanings and origins of the days and their customs and symbols. At one multinational company where a lot of yarmulkes are seen, much to the constant amazement of the locals, I asked an Israeli engineer to come explain the Jewish holidays and traditions to the class.

When talking about Western history, symbology, origins and meanings, again you can't talk long without Christianity becoming involved.

I'll talk about religion as a cultural and academic subject. At no point do I talk about my personal beliefs, nor do I ever attempt to nail said personal beliefs onto anyone here.