For Educational Purposes

 "Most statistics show that nine out of ten Americans believe in the existence of God. While these statistics do not elaborate on the nature of this God or the depth of religious identity, it is reasonable to conclude that religion in some form and to some degree is important to most Americans...

...This statistic illustrates how striking it is that our public schools do not include the study of religion despite the fact that the plularity--indeed, the overwhelming majority--of people hold a belief in God and identify with a religious tradition" (Priestman, Rosenblith 366).


Please take a moment to view these videos and debates:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/intelligent-design-trial.html

http://abcnews.go.com/US/religion-taught-schools/story?id=8166798#.UcWj65y58xc



"Our children need to know the truth about how our country got started..." (ABC).

Another million dollar question: should, to what extent, religion be taught in the public education school systems?

"First, should religion even be a part of the curriculum in a public school? Second, if it should be, is it appropriate for matters of truth to be a part of the discussion? Third, if truth matters are to be addressed, is it possible to come up with standards for what would constitute good thinking in this realm?" (Pristman, Rosenblith 365-366)

Ah, but wait, we are missing a key point to this topic-- separation of church and state.

This is defined by the distance in the relationship between the organized religion and the nation state.

To get glimpse at how religion has been handled in court, I suggest you take a peak at these cases:

Free exercise and public education

• Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
• Widmar v. Vincent (1981)
• Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District (1993)
• Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (1995)

The battle still continues, as this topic has not been completely solved nor forgotten:

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/leading-edge-legal-advice-everyday-matters/2013/may/24/separation-church-and-state-revisited/

Taken from the article posted above: Following the Lemon case, the Supreme Court formulated a three-pronged test to determine if government action violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause. The test became known as the “Lemon Test.”
–    The law or policy must have been adopted with a neutral or non-religious purpose.
–    The principle or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion.
–    The law or policy must not result in an “excessive entanglement” of government with religion.

I cannot end this battle,but I shall begin my own. I, Ashlyn Meyer, am entitled my own opinion--and yes, I support religious education within the public schools. There. See, I can be biased in my blog posts... Why? Well, that is a whole different post...

So with the information I have given you, I would like to hear your input. Do you believe religious education should taught to America's children? Why or why not?

 

 

References:

Authors: Rosenblith, Suzanne1 Priestman, Scott2

http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ez2.maricopa.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=57a1b3ef-5169-40a6-bcbf-5d7b6719d08e%40sessionmgr104&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=15235431
 Educational Theory. Fall2004, Vol. 54 Issue 4, p365-380. 16p.
 Authors:

Rosenblith, Suzanne¹
Priestman, Scott²