From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays.

Are we missing what's really important in America's battles over religion?

I'm Sarah Terry sitting in for Warren Olney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International, a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Public nativity scenes and debates about language dominate the culture wars this time of year.

But amid the skirmishes over proper greetings and public displays of religious belief, one of the most overlooked casualties is the fact that Americans

are surprisingly ignorant about the world's major religions. In an era when religious values and

beliefs are fueling global conflicts, should Americans be better informed, how should schools be

educating children about religion? On reporter's notebook, crisis in Ivory Coast, pressures mount on the country's

president to step down. First, the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John

D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, dedicated to the

idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. Information at

gatesfoundation.org. I'm Sarah Terry, sitting in for Warren Allney, back with To the Point from

PRI.

We'll be talking today about one of the biggest costs of America's wars over religion, ignorance.

Polls show that many Americans know little about the world's major religions, including their own.

What role should the study of religion play in schools?

Does the media have a responsibility to do more in-depth reporting on religion as a way to better understand the role that religious beliefs play in conflicts in foreign policy?

On reporter's notebook, stepping up the pressure on the president of Ivory Coast to step down,

a month after the elections, that he says he won.

...