Religion in Schools

      This subject can bring out the best and the worst in people.  Many people seem to feel, “If the school is teaching the kind of religion I believe in then it us okay, but don’t try and push anything else on my child.”  So where do we draw the line?  How do we make it fair for all?  Is there a way to completely take God and religion out of schools?  This is not an issue that began in the past few years.  This debate hit the Senate floor in 1984.  This is where Senator John Danforth (R- Missouri), an Episcopal priest, stated, “The heartfelt worship of God is not compatible with formalistic prayer rattled off daily at the behest of the government.”  Prayer, he declared, “should not be cheapened.  It should not be trivialized.  It should not be prostituted.”  On the idea that God had been expelled from schools, he said, “To many religious people, God is not dependent on the Supreme Court or Congress.  Objects may be kept out of the classroom, chewing gum for example.  But God is not chewing gum.”(DelFattore, pgs 197-198)  I tend to agree with his thinking.  If God is in my heart, how can someone keep me from bringing Him to school with me?  My beliefs go with me no matter where I go and no matter who I am with. 

      America was a country established on the belief in God.  So what is constitutionally right in the debate over religion in school?  On June 4, 1998, a majority of members on the United States House of Representatives voted in favor of an amendment to the United States Constitution that read:  To secure the people’s right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience: Neither the United States nor an State shall establish any official religion, but the people’s right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, or traditions on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed.  Neither the United States nor any State shall require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity, prescribed school prayers, discriminate against religion, or deny equal access to a benefit on account of religion. (Frasier, pg183)   I believe this means schools can’t keep students from praying but they can’t force any student to pray.  This sounds like religious freedom to me.    
     Now for the million dollar question; is a ‘moment of silence’ forcing anyone to pray?  Because of many lawsuits filed across the country judges have to input rulings.  In Illinois, a federal judge ruled against a state law requiring public school students to observe a moment of silence meant for prayer or public reflection at the start of each school day.  District Judge Robert Gettleman said the law was an unconstitutional breach of the separation of church and state.  Defenders of the law argue it is a student’s personal choice whether to pray or reflect more generally; therefore, proponents say, the law does not force religion on public school children. (https://elearn.mtsu.edu)
    I can only voice my feelings on this from a person who has grown up in the Bible belt with a grandfather who was a preacher.  I don’t believe that anyone can keep God or whatever a person believes in out of their heart.  I personally feel there is a place in school for the moment of silence at the beginning of the day.  Now if a student chooses to pray or not is up to that particular student.  As a parent, I want my child to pray, but I want it to be his choice.  Also, I don’t mind him learning about other religions and their traditions but again I don’t want them to be forced upon him.

References:

https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=2975445&tId=19133302

DelFattore, Joan, (2004), The Fourth R, Conflicts over Religion in America’s Public Schools, New   Haven & London.  Yale University Press

Fraser, James W., (1999), Church and State, Religion & Public Education in Multicultural America. 

 New York. St. Martin’s Press