ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 illustrates that the past and present always inform the future. As historical events inform each context, the chapter emphasizes the importance of context in research and an understanding of religious bullying and religious literacy. It situates this discussion on religious bullying and religious literacy in the contexts of Quebec and Modesto, California, as they have the two oldest North American public school systems with a mandatory religious literacy course required for graduation. As two contexts with a religious undercurrent in their public school systems, the discussion begins with the early establishment of schooling in Quebec in 1635 and in California in 1769. Through a survey of the development of each school system amidst socio-political growth and tensions from the past until 2018, the chapter presents three themes. Firstly, that the education systems are a product of a desire to maintain a specific and local identity. Secondly, that the control over public education was and remains fraught between several parties. Thirdly, that education about religious individuals and worldviews is informed by the local understanding of interculturalism and multiculturalism. These consistent themes illustrate the complexity of religious literacy programmes in each context; how they are framed and understood.
