I ask both questions, because invariably when I hear suggestions that God should be allowed back in public schools, it usually means some people instead want a particular religion in public schools.
If no particular religion is truly intended, then will Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Rastafarianism have equal space and time as the numerous Christian denominations?
What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
No, the Constitution separates Church and State - you cannot simply allow all religions to be forced on students and call it good. Even equal infringement on Constitutional assurances is illegal.
Students should be allowed to worship, pray, and act religiously however they choose in public schools - the Constitution gives them that right, but also give them the right not to be forced to accept or deny any religion according to what the schools decide.
People are so naive about the Constitution these days. It makes me crazy.
No! How the hell will we keep the kids on the current path to self-destruction, narcissism, and free-wheeling debauchery? Keep religion out of the schools and let the little cretins continue to kill each other at the current rate. I'm for that!
You're asking the wrong question. The debate is not about "God" or religion in schools. It's about how the Christian evangelical base of the Republican party has come to power and has consistently strived to impose its particular sectarian worldview on the public school system. If that wasn't happening, this forum thread and others like it would not exist.
Sanctioned prayer has had its perks, however, especially if you happen to be a member of the Taliban, or Hamas, or al Qaeda, or the Bush Administration.
Some related random thoughts...
* Man did not walk with dinosaurs
* 150 cells in a petri dish do not make a human soul
* The earth is not 6-10K years old
* Gay people can't pray their way straight
* If "God" has a place in school, does Jesus? Does Thor? Does Santa Claus? How about God's wife? What if you believe the world was created by Satan and God just took all the credit?
P.S. nice to see you posting here, Jeremy. I have always found your posts interesting on IFz.
What the Bill of Rights Third Article (amendment 1) says is that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..."
Government is clearly directed to stay out of it, either way.
But let's be clear: This was penned to ensure that no religions can be governmentally supressed, not to "separate church and state".
Children should be allowed to be as religious as they please anywhere that they please regardless of religion. They can worhip their lunchbox if it makes them better people.
No where in the constitution does it say there there is a seperation between church and state. That line was taken out of a letter from Thomas Jefferson to somone that was worried that the government was going to take over the church, not the other way around. The first ammendment clearly states that we shall have a freedom of religion, snd since the schools are keeping religion out, they are clearly breaking the first ammendment to the constitution. The Bill of Rights also states thet "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." No matter what anyone may believe, atheism is a religion. With the government saying: keep God out of schools, they are clearly enforcing a religion: atheism!
Absolutely, the fact is is that from the time students enter kindergarten, they are being taught the religion of anti-religion. School is a place of learning, of learning ALL possibilities. The only thing in schools now is secularism.
I believe a time should be free for students to pray during school, just prayer, so students don't have to if they don't want to. That way, students are open to EVERY possibility in school, the place for learning.
Disallowing prayer in church just shows that America is not totally free yet. What it is is FALSE freedom. We are shielding students from every oppurtunity open to them. School needs to be the place where students learn, and shielding them from all options is restricting their learning. The schools are preaching secularism, we need to open up all possibilities.
We do need God in school. The foundation of America was based on Christianity. Take away the foundation, and the "building" falls! (The "building" being our American society)
Our country was founded on God and Christian morals. While everyone should have the freedom to choose what they believe and don't believe, it's hard to deny the decay of culture and morals since we took God out of the majority of American schools. Whether or not you believe in God, you can't overlook the fact that the morals we USED to teach kept our kids on a better path than whatever kind of morals we teach now. Our Country was founded on Christianity for a reason, maybe we should actually listen to what our founding fathers had to say instead of just thinking about how we can morph their words into what suits OUR lifestyle. Separation of Church and State: The state should not interfere with the church, not the other way around. Get it right.
I get annoyed at people who say; “our country was founded on religious values”. Really wasn’t it those same values that killed the indigenous people of this great nation. Of course the diseased god fearing settlers killed most with smallpox etc. Religion is just a shortcut to thinking, a way for people to congregate and act like sheep. Name one thing that religion has done for the sake of mankind, while not simultaneously taking something in return.
So people want to know what religion does for us? Religion keeps people sane it gives them a sense of belonging and hope and love. Religion is what we rely on to get through tough times. You say you have never seen Gods work? Or God has never answered your prayers? Well maybe you haven't given him a chance. God does things in his time not yours. Do you believe in "The Golden Rule"? Well that rule is in the Bible. You all want your children to tell the truth, you criticize those who steal, you look down on those who murder, and aren't those all things God says not to do through is ten commandments? We teach not to do exactly what the bible teaches not to do, I think it is simply man turning it from Gods law to mans law. As a student, I think we should be allowed to worship in school. It doesn't mean endorsing a specific religion, it means teaching morals that everyone, even the atheists follow, things like: love, tolerance, treating everyone with respect, not judging some one because of a difference. Like it or not those are all Gods word, not mans. Like it or not, you all learn and teach Gods word in some way.
Post a Comment