Anchored in reviews of the literature on teaching about religion in public schools, media
portrayals of education, and media portrayals of religion, this study poses the following question:
How is teaching about religion in public schools portrayed in the media? The author identifies
four “camps” through the literature: the clarifiers, who seek to communicate that teaching about
religions is legal and desirable; the returners, who seek to return prayer and Bible reading to
public schools; the fideists, who claim that Scripture is sacred and should only be taught by
believers for the purpose of spreading faith; and the secularists, who believe that a focus on
religion will inevitably lead to sectarianism.