Justice Hugo Black, the Justice which authored the court’s opinion in Engel v. Vitale stated in the decision, stated “The prayer of each man from his soul must be his and his alone. That is the genius of the First Amendment”(qtd in Lewis). Prayer and religion needs to be between him or herself and the God in which they believe in. The government has no authority to allow these activities to exist in public education. It would not only cause schools to alienate some of the student body who happen to be in the religious minority but it is possible that it would cause great emotional stress. If religious prayer is so important to a student then I would argue for the parents to move that student to a religious based school. It would be that easy. And what of the many faiths? It would almost be impossible to allow religion in public schools because of the many faiths there are. Which religion should the prayer come from? Islam, Judaism, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, Pagan, Rastafarian, Taoism? The logistics of such a conquest would be an enormous and painstakingly time consuming. It would remove important time from learning. Public schools should just remain what they are, “public’. It is where the vast majority of students in a given city, of all faiths and walks of life, come to…
Religion, politics, ethics should be prohibited to be taught in public schools. Should not be taught in public schools because it could corrupt students’ minds, it could offend people and cause conflict that could result into a very violence senareo between parents vs teachers and teachers vs students and that it would be a big battle and result in the hands of the court.…
Since taking the Bible and prayer out of Schools, there have been five negative developments in the nation’s public schools: Academic achievement has plummeted, including SAT scores, increased rate of out-of-wedlock births, an increase in illegal drug use, increase in juvenile crime and deterioration of school behavior. Without someone teaching our youth in schools about God, the Bible and Jesus, where are the youth of America going to learn?…
Theoretical approaches in general help us understand the concepts of religion that both our society has created and societies before ours. Two theoretical approaches to “religion” that would help understand ancient cultures would be Archaeology and History. Archaeologist would look closely at artifacts and past civilizations to understand the way they practice or believed in religion. Where as Historians would examine the language that was spoke, which would then correlate to the stories being told and the texts that came from a specific culture, traditions and decrees. Many may say that the archaeological approach to understanding religion has more evidence since the way these individuals look at religion have tangible objects opposed to the…
When the devastating act of September 11th occurred, there were many Muslim families that were accused of being a part of the act because of their religion. In the article about teaching religion in elementary schools, teachers talked about how it was their job to discuss race, religion and many other things in schools (Ayers). If religion was taught in schools to children, then when it came down to traumatic events such as 9/11, people would understand that just because someone is a certain skin color or religion, they are not bad. Also, if religion was a part of a childs life, it may make it much easier for them to accept others around them that may…
Due to the diversity of religions, along with dissimilar practices, schools should continue their public structure leaving religion entirely out. Public schools educate the belief of God, which might…
Through much of the nineteenth century nationalism was used as tool in political propaganda. Nationalism is the extreme patriotism or love for one’s country. In the past few centuries nationalism has been used a justification for many wars and genocides. Nationalism has also been used to fuel the desire for imperialism. Imperialism is when one country takes over another.…
Since the US Supreme Court ruled that prayer should not be in public schools, it has changed the way Americans feel towards religion and state and it has also affected the upbringing of our children.…
Studies and research indicate a relationship between improved student outcomes in the classroom and religious education. “[The] faith schools continue to be popular, ... and their average pupil outcomes appear favorable when compared to other types of schools,” (Gibbons and Silva 2). This means that religious affiliated education centers appear to have a…
Since 1892, our country’s expression of loyalty and nationalism has been the Pledge of Allegiance. Written by Baptist minister Francis Bellamy, our nation’s pledge started out being published in the September issue of The Youth’s Companion, the Reader’s Digest of the day. Bellamy was the chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the National Education Association, and as such was in charge of planning a Columbus Day ceremony for the public schools. Part of the ceremony he planned involved a flag raising ceremony, while the children recited his pledge. The original words of the pledge as written by Bellamy are as follows:…
Religion has played a major role in our country since the beginning. Our Founding Fathers were very devout Christians. This country was set up with the intent of having our religous freedom secured. They passed laws that created a separation of church and state. However, in recent years this separation has began to deminish. Our government should stand and protect the rights our Founding Fathers instilled in this country.…
Freedom of religion? Are we really free to be apart of whatever religion we choose to believe in? If we are really free to believe in whatever religion we choose then why aren't we able to pray in schools? Everyone in the United States has amendments that they have to obey. The first amendment to the constitution gives us the freedom of religion, speech, press, and the right to peacefully assemble. Even though we have the freedom to do these things we are not able to use them as freely as we should. In schools we cannot say pray as a class. If you believe in a religion you should strongly believe in it where as you can hear someone else praying and be able to ignore it if it goes against your beliefs.…
If there were a curriculum based around religion, it would most likely be about Christianity and that is bound to make certain people uncomfortable and forgotten. The bottom line is we all do not worship the same god(s)so it would be ridiculous for the government to take preference to one over the other because of all the differences between all religions. If church and state were to mix it would be a major setback in the social and scientific community's with all religions convinced that their god or gods are the true god or…
However, even one person who makes the right choice and puts God first could affect their entire community. Rearrange your perspectives, and dedicate your life to God, and people will notice. As John Wesley stated, “I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.” Do not let the frivolities of life distract you, and keep you from loving the Lord “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,” and loving “your neighbor as yourself,” as we are commanded in Luke 10:27. I challenge you to regard this one verse as the supreme reason for your existence, and realize that nothing else you could ever do matters more. Believe it or not, that phone call can wait, that quiz won’t alone determine the success of your future career, and that pile of to-do’s will be there tomorrow. This week, put everything else on the back-burner for a change, and pray for increased passion and faith in your own life. In doing so, you will be allowing America to come one person closer to regaining her lost reputation as a nation where pure religion retains a great influence over the souls of…
I feel like religion is not determined by where you go to school, but the environment around them. What a child believes in and stays with is determined by what they encounter from their family, friends, and life experiences. “The Bible makes it clear that education is to begin in the home (Gen. 18:19; Deut. 6:7; Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:4; II Tim. 1:5; 3:15). It makes parents responsible for their children and charges them with an educational task”. I feel like no matter where a child or adult goes to school, their religious education can only be taught at home. “It’s whatever combination of public, private, or home education a child receives, the parents’ influence on a child’s mind is preeminent” (Kidd). Horace Mann “lobbied to get a common (public) school system established in our country, his main point of emphasis was the secular/sacred divide that separated religion and education into two different and isolated compartments of life” (Mann). He argued that the home and the church should teach faith, values and the school should teach facts. From experience, I have learned more about my religion from my parents, church community, and the people I associate with on a daily basis. I felt like I could show my faith in school without having to sit in a class and learn about it. It’s hard enough sitting in a desk all day learning the…