04/21/07

Religion in public schools is one of those issues that gets people’s blood boiling.  After recent school shootings, inappropriate behavior between teachers and students, and other issues of questionable morality, the discussion about prayer in public schools has been particularly forceful.  Where is God’s place in the classroom?  If a Christian God has a seat at the table, what about Mohammed, Buddha and Vishnu?  Where do we draw the time?

 The ACLU states that, “the right to practice religion, or no religion at all, is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.”  This civil liberties organization argues that the framers knew that religious liberty can only survive if government leaves religion alone.  With this argument, the ACLU is strongly opposed to mandated prayer in public schools.  Religious teaching should be restricted to the home and church, mosque, or synagogue.

 Conversely, numerous state legislatures and local school boards have considered prayer time in the classroom and values education reflecting specific religious views.  The basis of these efforts is a desire to have more righteous students who turn to a higher power for conflict resolution and counsel rather than violence and hatred.  In order to supplement religious teaching at home, virtue and morality should be reinforced in the classroom.

 No discussion about religion in public schools is complete without considering the Bill of Rights and the laws being debated in Congress.  The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”    Whether recent laws passed through both houses violates this amendment is up for debate.  H.R. 2679, the “Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005,” would bar the recovery of attorney’s fees to citizens who win lawsuits brought under the First Amendment, which critics say threatens religious freedom.  The America’s Opportunity Scholarships for Kids Act is a bill that passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives which would afford $100 million dollars to private and religious schools through a voucher system, which critics says is a direct violation of the Establishment Clause.

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