Religion in school. Religion, to me, is a personal choice that we are all free to make. It doesn't matter to me what religion someone is. However, I take issue with people trying to force their believes on me. This is why I support keeping religion out of the public school. I vividly remember being in high school and a lot of my friends started going to a new church. They found a youth group with a charismatic leader, and they followed him. He convinced them that their classmates who didn't attend youth group were "sinners" and overall bad people. Rather than encouraging them to pray for us, he encouraged them to ostracize us. He began coming to school and sitting in our cafeteria during lunch periods (long before Sandy Hook or even Columbine when school's doors were open). He would hold Bible studies at lunch time. While it never really was a "problem" (aside from the obvious religion in school issue), one of the girls in his group was an undiagnosed epileptic. She had a seizure one day in the lunch room. Full blown seizure. When she was writhing on the floor, frothing at the mouth, one of the other members of her group started to run for help. The pastor stopped her and said that the Holy Spirit was causing this girl to seize and that there was nothing that could be done. It was miraculous. That was when admin found out this guy had been coming to our school: a student, who wasn't part of the Bible group, went for help. Granted, I know that all religions are not like this, and the students who got sucked into this obviously needed to feel a part of something. But, it has forever clouded my opinion of religion and specifically religion in school. I appreciate the Prayer at the Pole campaign. I also know that TEC is a huge event in our local school. However, those are both conducted outside of school hours, which I feel is appropriate. If a student wants to bring his Bible or other holy book to school to read, I see no problem. Religious symbols on jewelry is fine. I pride myself on my openness. I don't feel that students should be discriminated against for wearing particular clothing to school that represents their religious beliefs. Those students who experience bullying or otherwise as a result are victims of hate and the issues should be handled. However, I DO like knowing that I'm sending my child to school knowing that someone else's religious beliefs are not going to be pushed at her. If I wanted that for her, or if I wanted it for myself, I would work in a private, religious institution.
What is the difference between religious convictions and morality? I believe that we all want to instill a sens of morals and moral obligation in our students. However, how do we do that without infringing on religious beliefs?
We all need to know right from wrong. I don't think that is necessarily based on religion. Good religions (in my opinion) promote fairness to every one. Bad religions treat hate and killing. They also teach their version of what is right. Unfortunately that has been going on since the beginning of time. Most schools have started teaching a code of conduct or morality based many times on respect, responsibility, and more to instill these ideas into our young people. My school has a different moral value for each month of school and we talk with our children about what it means and how they can show that value to others. I think it makes some impact on them when making choices.
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