ABSTRACT
European churches, including churches in former European colonies, are often majestic structures and each has its own history, characteristics, and idiosyncrasies. The Cloisters has original archways, doors, statues, icons, mosaics, paintings, and the world-famous Unicorn Tapestries, seven wall hangings that are an allegorical retelling of the legend of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) thematic strands include two brief mentions of religion, in an anthropological examination of culture and as a social institution. The NCSS College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State Standards mentions religion in discussions of sociology, anthropology, government, and geography. The one instance where the integral relationship between state and religion is directly presented is in discussions of New World Aztec and Inca societies. But these are brief discussions about societies that develop in isolation from the main currents of human history.
