Controversy: Supporting Religious Expression In Public Schools

Damon Fowler, a juvenile protestant against religious activities, expressed his perspective of religious affairs before an upcoming graduation ceremony. Thus, his acts to stop the forthcoming religious practice that would have occurred during the ceremony took place, and the religious prayer was cancelled. Therefore, the aftermath of the high school student opposition did not cease with only the religious intervention. The complaint that was reported by the student, was also followed by an individual leaking his name as the one behind the complaint. As a result, Damon Fowler has been publicly demeaned by teachers and other students, physically threatened which also involved death threats, and was ostracized from his local community. The foregoing case is just one of

This article analyzes the First Amendment of the United States Constitution in order to persuade the reader that religious education should be included in school curricula. However, Chaffee argues that public schools may not hinder nor prohibit the teachings of a specific religion over others, as “Public schools uphold the First Amendment when they protect the religious liberty rights of students of all faiths or none. Schools demonstrate fairness when they ensure that the curriculum includes study about religion, where appropriate, as an important part of a complete education” (Chaffee). Chaffee then mentions Professor Charles Haynes, a First Amendment scholar, master teacher, activist and change agent, whom he has spoken to about the matter.

Religion is one of the largest controversies in the world, due mainly to different people with different backgrounds and cultures are in America. Religion creates positivity and brings people together, but can also cause arguments and debates. America founded its nation on religion; however, society has slowly pushed it away year by year. Religion is being pushed out of our classrooms, schools, and communities because of the miniscule percentage of people in America who aren’t religious. People are becoming offended easily by religious topics, which is causing the negativity among American citizens. America’s youth are being deprived of an education that includes world religions and culture. There hasn’t been a single successful effort to reinstate religion into schools despite efforts to slowly take away the changes that have been made to take religion out. I propose to reestablish religion into Athens High school because it forms good morals that will help America’s youth become better contributors of society.

For centuries, the debate has existed whether or not to allow prayer in public schools. Many Americans feel it is not right of the schools to teach religion. With all the diversity associated with the United States, public schools cannot select one standard religion to practice, due to the cultural and religious differences in the country. Not only are schools the storm center of controversy involving religious differences, they are the principal institution charged with transmitting the identity and mission of the United States from one generation to the next. If we fail in our school policies and classrooms to model and to teach how to live with differences, we endanger our experiment in religious liberty and our

Is it ok for students to express religious beliefs in class discussions, or through assignments? If you were Brittany Settle you would probably answer “No”. Settle v. Dickson County School Board, 53 F. 3d 152 (6th Cir. 1995), Brittany’s assignment was a research paper and her topic was drama approved by her teacher, which she later changed, without approval, to “The Life of Jesus”. The teacher refused her paper and Brittany received a zero. The teacher gave six reasons why she refused Brittany’s paper. Court ruled that Brittany’s free speech was not violated, by having to abide by a teacher's curriculum, and the teacher has control over the curriculum and classroom.

Issues involving public schools and religion have been topics involving intense debate. It is difficult for the government to elucidate the appropriate boundaries of religion in the public schools. It is true that teaching about religion is permitted in the public education systems, but the real question is where the margin should be set between teaching religion and simply teaching about religion. It is almost impossible to teach about the history of the United States without teaching that religious beliefs associated with the history, artwork, and literature. More than the public is lead to believe, The Constitution permits religious activities in and around public school buildings. It is unfortunate that the

How can we say that the United States is a free country when we can not openly express our religious beliefs in public? Prayer within public schools has begun a significant debate amongst people in society today. This has been a controversial topic in the United States for approximately over 50 years. Many argue whether or not it is socially appropriate to have education and religion in the same place. People have made various reasons about why or why not prayer should be prohibited in public schools. There have been countless court cases and discussions all over the nation regarding this topic. According to Karen Ridder, “A prayer in New York caused the first U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on prayer in public schools: Even though it was the middle of the Cold War, a non-denominational, optional prayer known as The Regent’s Prayer got caught up in the 1962 case of Engle v. Vitale” (Ridder). This comes to show how the prohibition of school prayer has been an issue for a significant amount of time. While this is a very disputatious topic, prayer should be allowed in public schools because students should be able to freely express their beliefs.

Many people today have their own personal beliefs. In a school setting, there have been many controversial situations that have been brought to court to help resolve individual rights. As National Coalition Against Censorship (2017) stated, the First Amendment guarantees of religious liberty include the freedom to believe or not to believe, to observe one’s faith openly without government interference, Freedom of speech encompasses religious as well as secular speech, but the Establishment Clause is where Thomas Jefferson described it as “a wall of separation between church and state”, because it has important implications for religious speech and observance in public schools” (Retrieved from http://ncac.org/resource/the-first-amendment-in-schools-resource-guide-religious-expression-in-the-public-schools). For this paper, legal issues regarding grading of assignment, appropriate of displaying student’s work, application of First Amendment to scenario, and conclusion will be discussed.

The subject of religion in public schools is one that has been debated vigorously and passionately. The warriors from the Right and Left fail to appreciate the facts because they are caught up in the rhetoric and have difficulty viewing this emotional topic dispassionately (Haynes, 2011). Both sides are right about one thing: this is an important subject.

Education plus God equals success. While this statement is true, the job of incorporating the truth about God into everything taught is becoming increasingly more difficult. Schultz charted public education’s view of reality, truth and value throughout the history of the United States to show how an unbiblical worldview has increasingly taken hold of society, the educational system and

Religion in Schools has proven to be a very controversial matter as of lately. Even though teaching about religion is allowed in public schools, there are still many questions that are being asked in order to provide a basis of what is appropriate for school, and what is inappropriate. The first amendment to the United States Constitution says that 'congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof' which implies that you have the choice of exercising your own religion, no matter what it may be. However, this poses an interesting argument within the public schools of America because we have such a diverse population with

Unlike most other countries in the world, the United States of America was founded and made great by immigrants. With this melting pot of ethnic diversity, America has also become home to a unique and blended culture of all contents. Often times, religion is found seated at the heart of a culture, and the aforementioned American culture is no exception. America however, being as diverse culturally as it is, has no single religion in its center. These hundreds and thousands of religions practiced on American soil all deserve equal respect and protection under the law. With this knowledge of how differentiated American life and culture, religion should not be actively taught in public schools on the grounds it violated students constitutional rights and it morally is not acceptable.

Where is the line between freedom of religion and freedom from religion? What is my role as a teacher in a classroom to ensure that students are given their rights per the first amendment? Where is religion’s place in the classroom, or should it be welcome at all within the walls of public education? These are just a few questions that come to mind in context of religion and education when planning for my future classroom. Consequently, there are questions that remain unanswered when asked of instructors within the education program, due to fear of being incorrect or misleading. As a preservice teacher, I feel completely unprepared for when these issues arise in my classroom and have an uncomfortable feeling in regards of legality in terms of the situation. However, I am not naive to think that there is a definitive answer about what is right and wrong in terms of religion and public education. With this concept in mind, the intent of this paper is to create a descriptive protocol for teachers handle situations in the classroom that will neither suppress nor indoctrinate his/her students with religion of any shape or form.

Religion has always been a major societal force. Though it helped define, shape, and lead cultures as a prominent component of a well-rounded education in the past, in the modern day, we have discarded religious teaching in public education in favor of progressive, accurate, practical, and provable knowledge. Most people, including educators, students, and the parental figures of students, agree that the best way to educate students is in such a manner. The issue, however surprising, still stands, and is the source of big political discourse throughout the country. Some states, and some of the political figures that drive the educational system, are in favor of continuing the in-depth studies of religion in the classroom. The people in this group vary, some prefer sticking to one religion to teach as compared to many. The Knightly Herald’s Olivia Godfrey presents this controversial topic in her article, titled, “Why Religion Should Not Be Taught in Public Schools.” In the article, Godfrey defends the idea that religion should be kept out of a public education, and that rather, religion should be left entirely in the hands of a student’s life at home. Government, be it state or federal, has no place in having a say of what kind of religious education a student receives. It is a personal and familial matter that differs from person to person, culture to culture. Godfrey unpacks and addresses, with the help of appeals to common sense, and familiarity, the various perspectives

One of the avenues of influential learning is in school. The place where students spend half of their life. Going to school aids students in acquiring knowledge, establishing rapport and developing skills. When students attend school, they showcase not only their characters traits and attitudes, but they also carry with them their cultural differences and religious practices. (Green & Oldendorf, 2005). Looking at how diverse our society is, the question of teaching religions and their ideologies at a school-level rise. Whilst the state practices neutrality towards religion, there are still issues and challenges when it comes to accommodating religious diversity and its integration in the education system (Berger, 2013, p.104). Therefore, integrating religion in the education system can lead to