Religious Education in the Public Schools
ABSTRACT: Recently, several authors have cited traditional liberal principles to argue that religious education must be offered in public schools in the United States of America. These authors claim that exposure to a variety of religious beliefs and traditions is a necessary means to attaining the two goals of providing children with "open futures" and encouraging tolerance of religious diversity. This paper contends that these arguments are seriously flawed, and provides reasons which demonstrate that, in practice, these two goals cannot be accomplished by religion courses in the public schools. Additionally, mandatory religion courses in the public schools appear to be unconstitutional and infringe on parental rights and freedom of religion. Consequently, the goals of a liberal state are best achieved by not offering religious education in the public schools.
In recent debates, many participants have relied on liberal principles to favor the introduction of religious education classes at the secondary, and sometimes even the elementary, level in the public schools in the United States of America. I will argue that the public school systems of liberal democratic states should not engage in religious education. By critically examining common arguments for the view that the public schools should, or must, offer religious studies courses, I intend to show that these arguments are seriously flawed because proponents do not consider the distorted and harmful ways in which such courses are likely, in practice, to be taught. Additionally, I will argue that those proponents who believe that such courses should be mandatory are requesting a program of study that is both inconsistent with r...
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...s, et al. (eds.), Kindred Matters: Rethinking the Philosophy of the Family (Cornell University Press, 1993), p. 188.
(4) Ibid.
(5) For an example of this view, see: Laura Purdy, op. cit. or Stephen Macedo, "Multiculturalism for the Religious Right? Defending Liberal Civic Education," in Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 29, No. 2, 1995, pp. 223-238.
(6) Charles R. Kniker, Teaching About Religion in the Public Schools (Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Fastback 224, 1985), p. 15.
(7) See LaFollette and Macedo, op. cits.
(8) Eugene T. Connors, Religion and the Schools: Significant Court Decisions in the 1980s (Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Fastback 272, 1988), pp. 31-36.
(9) Brenda Almond, "Education and Liberty: Public Provision and Private Choice," in Children's Rights Re-Visioned , op. cit., pp. 137-138.
(10) Ibid, p. 145.
After the Messenian war the Spartan people moved into the Taygetus mountains and there they would set up what would eventually become the military government of Sparta. Almost defeated, but maintaining the control of the territory the Spartans invented a new political system by turning their state into a military state. By making this dramatic change it in essence changed the everyday living styles of each individual living in the Spartan society.
Sparta had very different values than that of societies today. Located on Peloponnese, a peninsula in southern Greece, it slowly grew enough to be considered a city-state. The people there valued military more than morals. The Spartans owned helots and fought against an army much bigger than theirs and everyone died but stopped the Persians using the phalanx. The strengths in Sparta’s education system outweigh the weaknesses because boys were taught the proper attitude, to care for and use their bodies, and how to be prepared for whatever comes their way.
Sparta was a city-state based on strict military ruling, at the age of seven a young Spartan would start out training and be trained into killing machines. When a Spartan baby is born, high elite Spartan soldiers would observe the baby to see if it was healthy and strong, if not the baby was ill and weak so it would be taken up a mountain and left there to die. This is just one example that shows how Sparta only wants a strong army and doesn't care about anything else. Strict rules of the government made it so that every Sp...
Kobach, Kris W. "The Senate Immigration Bill Rewards Lawbreaking: Why the DREAM Act Is a Nightmare." The Heritage Foundation - Conservative Policy Research and Analysis. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. .
About half a million children are born to undocumented immigrants every year. These children are not given the opportunities that they so rightly deserve. They spend their entire lives in the United States and are considered illegal immigrants. They are given no choice, but to live their life as an undocumented immigrant. That is what the DREAM Act is trying to solve. The DREAM Act, or Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors is a proposal that would provide permanent residency to undocumented immigrants who meet certain eligibility requirements (The DREAM Act). If the DREAM Act is approved, then the education will be improved. It will improve the economy, the military will receive a significant increase in recruitments, and the lives of undocumented immigrants will thrive.
The DREAM Act legislation should pass and become a law; in a way this will be beneficial for both parties involved, for the young immigrants and for the U.S. If this is not possible an alternative should be sought out. The DREAM Act could be embedded into a comprehensive immigration reform, or the government can look to give the dreamers and other immigrant’s temporary legal status. “The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act would offer the undocumented youth the chance at legal reside...
In her article “Beyond the Wall of Separation: Church-State in Public Schools”, Martha McCarthy, a Chancellor Professor and chair of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, makes it clear that her aim is to inform educators of the legal history and constitutional precedents of the Establishment clause and Free speech Clause of the First Amendment with an attached understanding of how educators should implement these findings. She summarizes and analyzes key Supreme Court rulings over the course of the 20th century as they pertain to religious expression in public schools. She clarifies the usage of both the Establishment Clause and the Free Speech Clause, including recent changes in trends that have been noted in the Supreme Court during the last decade. From the late 1940’s to the 1990’s most Supreme court rulings focused on the Establishment Clause to the increasing exclusion of the Free Speech Clause such that students were increasingly limited in the ways they were allowed to express themselves in school even in a private manner. In recent years, however, it has been noted that forcing students to suppress their religious expression is itself a religious statement and one that denies the role of religion in people’s lives. McCarthy notes that the public schools must take a neutral stand in relation to religion such that they do not defend or deny its role in people’s lives, either directly or indirectly.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.
With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...
Hawley, Helen, and Gary Taylor. "Freedom of religion in America." Contemporary Review 282.1649 (2003): 344+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Talbot, Nathan. "Government Should Not Interfere with Personal Belief." Bach, Julie S., ed. Religion in America: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1989.
Leaming, J. (n.d.). Voucher programs propt debate over meaning of separation of church and state. Retrieved March 12, 2011, from www.freedomforum.org: http://www.freedomforum.org/packages/first/schoolvouchers/part2.htm
Throughout the fourteen years that remained in power Chávez followed strategy of introducing a socialist government in Venezuela in stages. According to Enrique Standish in the article titled “Venezuela Finally Turns Communist” it happened in four stages. The first stage consisted of obtaining t...
CHANDRA, ABHIMANYU. "Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid." The Yale Review of International Studies RSS. N.p., Aug. 2012. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
United States. Energy Information Administration. “Electric Power Monthly with Data for February 2014” eia.gov. US Energy Information Administration, 22 Apr. 2014. Web. 8 May 2014.