Religion In Public Schools
Should religion be taught in public school systems? According Emma Brown, the author of “These Christian Teachers want to Bring Jesus into Public Schools,” this is a question that has caused quite an uproar for about 100 years. The author of the article “Praying for Legal Behavior: Why Teachers Shouldn’t be Preachers” ask many questions on this issue as well. Questions like should religion be a mandatory part of a public school’s curriculum, and if so, what religious practices should be used? On the other hand, author Linda McKay-Panos, the author of “Religion in Public Schools”, states that spreading one’s religious beliefs is not part of a teacher’s job. So what do we do about this situation? The issue that teachers face is whether or not
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(“Praying”) Maybe parents are against their children being pressured into believing a certain religion. A family can have their own set of beliefs, and they might not want their child being taught differently than what they are being taught at home. Brown states that a coach would abuse his coaching position by trying to proselytize kids. By a coach trying to convert you to his or religion, a student will feel pressured to do so to get playing time. When a child is in school they are taught to listen to their authority figure, so if an authority figure is pressuring them and trying to evangelize to them, then the student might feel compelled to convert because they are trying to be obedient. “People who want to engage in evangelism have plenty of private avenues to use. After all, there is no shortage of houses of worship in America, and they have proven adept at getting their messages out.” In America, we have a separation of church and state for a reason (McKay-Panos).
There are many pros, and many cons to this situation. There are also a lot of unanswered questions. Teaching religion on one hand might seem like a good idea, but on the other hand these good intentions may backfire and cause more harm than none. There are a lot of questions and a lot of concerns that go along with this issue, so far nobody knows the correct way to go yet, but by hoping and praying one day a solution will be
(“Praying”) Maybe parents are against their children being pressured into believing a certain religion. A family can have their own set of beliefs, and they might not want their child being taught differently than what they are being taught at home. Brown states that a coach would abuse his coaching position by trying to proselytize kids. By a coach trying to convert you to his or religion, a student will feel pressured to do so to get playing time. When a child is in school they are taught to listen to their authority figure, so if an authority figure is pressuring them and trying to evangelize to them, then the student might feel compelled to convert because they are trying to be obedient. “People who want to engage in evangelism have plenty of private avenues to use. After all, there is no shortage of houses of worship in America, and they have proven adept at getting their messages out.” In America, we have a separation of church and state for a reason (McKay-Panos).
There are many pros, and many cons to this situation. There are also a lot of unanswered questions. Teaching religion on one hand might seem like a good idea, but on the other hand these good intentions may backfire and cause more harm than none. There are a lot of questions and a lot of concerns that go along with this issue, so far nobody knows the correct way to go yet, but by hoping and praying one day a solution will be