Religion
vs Public Schools
In a country founded on religious freedom. The debate
of having religion in our public schools has been the source of enormous
conflict. This question dates back further than the 19th century and
is the foundation of many heated discussions that takes place in this day and
age. The vast majority oppose the thought of religion being present in our public
schools system. Relying on the section of “The First Amendment” of the US.
Constitution. That states “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting free exercise thereof”. This
amendment also established “The Separation of Church and State” which is the
political and legal doctrine that establishes that religious and government
institutions should be kept separate and independent of one another. Many people
questions the actual meaning of these documents predicting that when this
amendment was created it wasn’t intended to be imposed so strictly. Some even
raise contradictory questions about religious liberty in a pluralistic society
(Congressional
Digest, 1995). Teaching religion
in our public schools would be beneficial today when religious illiteracy is
becoming a concern. What better way can we
teach the importance of respecting and appreciating diversity and instill moral
values into those who would one day become our future leaders? Other than to
include religion into our public school curriculum. After all religious lessons
can encourage and promote moral conduct within students, act as and is a form
of therapy, and teach children how to be more understanding of people and the
world around them.
Over the years what have once been morally unacceptable
is suddenly becoming what we consider normal. William Bennet (Former Secretary
of Education) once stated in his cultured index that between the decades of 1960-1990
there have been a steady moral decline. In which during this time frame
divorce, teenage pregnancy, teen suicide, child abuse, high violent crime and
abortion have increased drastically (Eliassin, 2011). Although Mr. Bennet was
speaking of the nation as a whole. Our children, preteens, and teenagers are being
influenced by their peers and the highly sexualized media such as erotic
novels, music videos, sitcoms, reality television shows, X-rated movies and
gossip magazines. Many may agree that the way many of our youth presently
conduct themselves is absurd, disgraceful and disrespectful. Which shows it’s
affect within their academic lives. The Center of Disease Control and
Prevention reported in 2007 that 5.9% of students carry weapons to school, 7.8%
have been threatened and/or injured on campuses nationwide, 12.4 have been in
physical fights on school grounds and that 5.3% of students no longer attend
school because they don’t feel safe (Eliassin,2011). This illustrates the
importance of teaching moral values at an early age. It is difficult to teach
lessons on how to conduct ourselves morally without teaching about religion.
Being that most of the strong moral beliefs originated from various religious
practices. It’s almost like peanut butter and jelly they’re very few times
where you can make a reference to one without making one to the other.
Eliminating lessons about such topics out of our academic curriculum have left
a gap open for an early acceptance of immoral behavior amongst our youth.
Prayer and
religion gives a sense of faith, hope, and peace within the individuals that
incorporate them within their lives. This create a positive atmosphere even in
hectic places and times. Prayer in itself is believed to have healing and
therapeutic properties. Dr. Randolph Byrd discovered this when he conducted a
study that shocked the world regarding prayer. Cardiologist Byrd studied 393
patients in a San Francisco Hospital coronary care unit. All of the
participants suffered from similar conditions and symptoms. He randomly
separated this group into two. One conducted with intercessory prayer and one
without. When the study concluded Dr. Byrd found that there was an enormous
difference in the quality of recovery, with those who received prayer based
treatment than with those who didn’t. He also reported that those patients conducted
with intercessory prayer were less likely to suffer a heart attack or heart disease
(Byrd, 1988). Proving prayer can act as a source of strength to those who struggle
with physical disorders. In a study
conducted in Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Participating was a
total of 136 adult patients diagnosed with major depression or bipolar
depression. After admission these patients were surveyed for treatment using
the standard instruments in social sciences for assessing intensity, severity
and depth of disease and feelings of hopelessness and spiritual satisfaction.
This study found that those with strong beliefs in a personal and a concerned
God were more likely to experience an improvement. Patricia Murphy, PhD a
Chaplin at Rush stated “In our study, the positive response to medication had
little to do with the feeling of hope that typically accompanies spiritual
belief, specifically it was tied to the belief that a Supreme Being existed and
cared." (Rush University Medical Center, 2010) These two studies illustrates that religion
is indeed a form of therapy for various medical disorders. Which could decrease
the number of children who struggle with suicidal thoughts, feelings of
worthlessness, and urges to inflict harm to themselves and others. By creating
a sense of self-worth and understanding that all life has a purpose, changes
the level of acceptance within themselves and those around them.
The absence of knowledge based on religion can prevent
children from understanding other cultures, tradition, and values of their
peers. Muslim American after the attack on September, 11, 2001 faced increase
hostility and negative stereotyping being expressed by a majority of society. Muslim
immigrant more so than any other immigrants were faced with negative attitudes.
These events have increased racial and religious animosity which left Arabs,
Middle Easterners, Muslims, and those who bear a stereotyped physical resemblance
to members of these groups, fearful of potential hatred and hostility from
people of other cultures (Khan and Ecklund, 2012) This discrimination developed
not only because of the tragedy on that day but because of inaccurate knowledge
of these traditions and beliefs. Islamic individuals aren’t the only ones who
face such discrimination. Other religions
have stereotypical views attached to them as well. Verifying that those who are
ignorant to other cultures tend to identify them based on what is demonstrated
in the media and the opinions of those around them. Most of the issues
regarding untruthful judgement in this nation derive from the unfamiliarity with
a person’s appearance, cultures, beliefs, and traditions. In teaching about
different religions children would be able to mold their own opinions about diverse
cultures. In the 2005 study called The
Bible Literacy Project only 10% of teenagers could name all 5 of the major
religions and 15% couldn’t name any
(Laycock,2015). Demonstrating that not only will religious curriculum
benefit children personally but academically and later on professionally as
well. Our nation include people of
various religions, languages, economic groups, and other cultural groups. In
order to build communities that are able to improve conditions and resolve
issues, we have to
understand and appreciate our differences, form relationships with these
individuals apart from our own culture, and build strong relations with one
another. Teaching religion in our public school system would build
and establish a foundation for understanding all religions. Religious
ideas have been known to affect politics, economics and law. In fact, Puritans
of the 16th and 17th century broke away from The Church
of England in pursuit of pure religion. They created a system where God was the
most important aspect of life. Their ideas influenced New England colonies
political, economic, and social development. The way power was separated by men
and what they consider sinful behavior structured their politics and their ideas
on trading shaped New England’s economics (The History Channel, 2009).
Although they’re various reasons why religion should
be restored back into our public school. The majority think that it would be
absurd and unconstitutional. Senator Lowell Weicker once stated “The mix of religion
and politics is unhealthy and detrimental to our government”. He believed that
accommodating prayer in school is just another burden that schools don’t need
in a day filled with too many distraction already (Goldberg, 1996). There have
also been various cases where religion in public schools have created major problems.
(McCollum v. Board of Education (1947) was one of the earlier cases were the
supreme court ruled against a law in Illinois that allowed religious
instructors to enter public schools during the day for “Voluntary” worship and
theological instruction. As a follow up to this case (Zorach v. Clauson1952) emerged when the idea of students leaving public
school campus during the day for religious teachings offsite call “Release
Time”. This idea was upheld by The Supreme court on a 6-3 vote (Boston, 2012). However, after both of these cases prayer
and/or bible studies where still active in public schools. Until the case of
Engel v. Vitale (1962) which was the first in a series of cases where the court
used the establishment cause to eliminate religious activity of all sorts which
had been included in public ceremonies during that time. Justice Hugo Black
wrote for the majority during this case stating “When the power, prestige and
financial support of government is placed behind a particular religious belief,
the indirect coercive pressure upon religious minorities prevailing officially
approved religion is pain” (Congressional Digest) These are just a few
oppositions to the thought of religion in public schools based on our judicial
system. However, they are other reasons why people oppose religion in public
schools. Discrimination being the most popular reasons why people cringe at the
idea. Especially, with children being persecuted for their individual beliefs
like high school student Jessica Ahlquist who was victimized for stick up for
the “Separation of Church and State” doctrine. After winning a federal ruling
last year in Rhode Island to remove a prayer banner from her public school. As
a result of her victory in the courtroom she had to be escorted to school by
police because of vicious threats of violence and retribution and later opt for
private tutoring (Gaylor, 2014). Unwanted indoctrination is another popular
reason as most parents want to have control of what is being taught to their
children. Atheist parents don’t want their child having the possible
indoctrination into any one of the many world religious beliefs and parents of
one religious background find distaste in their child being taught about
another, because of the fear that one religion would be taught as being more
superior to the one they believe in.
Even though both sides of
this topic have its valid reasons for their opinions. We must not forget that
there was a time when religion was present in our public schools. During those times there was less violence on
school grounds and our youth carried themselves in a respectful manor. Many
believe that removing religion out of our classrooms is the cause of the
immoral decline in our youth. However, the vast majority still have similar
views as the Supreme Court Justice in the state of Wisconsin who stated that
“There is no such source and cause of strife, quarrel, fights, malignant
opposition, persecution, and war, and all evil in the state, as religion. Let
it once enter our civil affairs, our government would soon be destroyed. Let it
once enter our common schools, they would be destroyed" (Gaylor, 2014). The
question is; if done tastefully, how bad could teaching religion in public
school be? After all, allowing prayer in public school could instill positive moral
values, help alleviate violence, decrease in dropout rate, teenage pregnancy, a
securer educational experience, and other societal problems (Congressional
Digest, 1995). Especially, since we are living in a country where religion was
so important that our currency and historical documentations make references to
God. I would like to end this with a
quote from Pearl. S. Buck “The Story Bible”. “The scripture of any religion are
fascinating and profound revelation of the struggle of the souls of men and
women to find the source of their being and the causes of life and death”
Works
Citied
- Gaylor, Annie Laurie. "The Dangers of Religious Instruction in Public Schools." Religion Politics.
- Laycock, Joseph. "If We Don’t Teach Religion in Schools, Americans Will Never Understand the Rest of the World." Quartz.
- Byrd, Randolph C. "Positive Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer in a Coronary Care Unit Population." Southern Medical Journal 81.7 (1988): 826-29. God and Science. Web.
- "Puritanism." History.com. Ed. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.
- Elinassin, Shedwin. "Moral Decline Due to Absence of School Prayer." FIUSM.COM.
- Boston, Rob. "5 Supreme Court Decisions Pandering to Christianity." Alternet. N.p., 24 Apr. 2012. Web.
- Goldberg, Mark F. "An Interview with Lowell Weicker: Education in the United States." The Phi Delta Kappan 77.8 (1996): n. pag. JSTOR.
- Rush University Medical Center. "Belief in a caring god improves response to medical treatment for depression, study finds." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 February 2010
- Khan, Mussarat, and Kathryn Ecklund. "Journal of Muslim Mental Health." Attitudes Toward Muslim Americans Post-9/11. Michigan Publishing, 2012.
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