I was taking a public high school course in philosophy. I remember asking the teacher if he were Christian. I still recall the look on his face. It seemed to me as if he were not sure if he should tell me the truth or not. He finally said that he was a Christian.
Are teachers allowed to read a Bible during break time? Are they allowed to wear any type of religious jewelry – what about a tiny itsy-bitsy cross pin?
What are students allowed to say or not say? If my teacher tells me to write a story about someone who influenced me, can I write about Jesus or does that cross the line? Does freedom of speech end at the school door?
Teachers can do whatever they want on their break time. They just don't get to proselytize on my kid's time.
Jewelry? Nothing wrong with something tasteful. A Cross (or star of david or anything else) the size of the brooklyn bridge shouldn't be allowed just for tackiness.
Students (and teachers) don't get to proselytize on school time. They're free to keep it after school at home and in church and at whatever friends don't want to strangle them for doing it. If they want to say they "admire" a religious figure, nothing wrong with that.
You have to learn to separate between freedom of speech and inserting your religion into the school day. If you can't go from 8 to 3 without praying or proselytizing, you probably don't belong in a public school.
What if I don’t want evolution taught exclusive of any other theory? Should I at least get to have the “still unanswered questions” posed to my child/student as evolution has not answered all questions? What if I still believe that sex education should not be so comprehensively taught. Should I be allowed to opt my child out of sex ed?
Too bad re evolution. Seriously. It's our best scientific knowledge as of now. If you prefer a religious education for your kid, again, public school isn't the place for him/her. Same with sex ed.
Shouldn’t the bible be mentioned in a literature class? It certainly is an old and influential book – whether it is true or not is another matter. What about the influence that Christianity (the belief that early people had about the Bible) had in early America. Can’t that be taught in a history class?
Who's bible? Yours? Mine? Abdallah's next door?
And THAT is why the bible doesn't belong in school. Do you think for a second I want someone in a public school indoctrinating my son that the NT is what he should be following?
Kids should learn about literature in school. They can learn about the bible on their parents' time... unless it's part of a comprehensive comparative theology class.
Along with your comment, these are just some of the many gray areas where other topics and Christianity may overlap. It is just another reason why I support school choice. This would be a moot point if we had school choice. You can take your kids to a satanic school or atheist school or whatever school you like. Hey! Perhaps with a voucher program we could consider keeping the money and home-schooling our kids. Think of the freedom and possibilities. Oh, but wait. Somewhere in some tiny school, a tiny bit of tax money might be used by a teacher who tells a student that God may have created the earth. Horrors.
I don't think it's a grey area at all. Other "topics" and Christianity don't overlap. Christians dogma is IN PLACE of science. It isn't science. When my son goes to Hebrew School, he learns about our religious beliefs. He shouldn't be confused for one second as to the difference between those beliefs and science or between our beliefs and someone elses.
It's not about "horrors". It's about the fact that religion is MINE to teach my child. As it is, my religion is a minority. Do you think I want the majority religion rammed down his throat? And tax money CAN'T be use to indoctrinate him in Christianity or Islam or any other belief system that isn't mine.
I've been meaning to ask you. Do you have kids? Because you seem very nonchalent about all of this. I can tell you as the parent of a child, and a child of a minority religion, I take very seriously the separation of church and State. I don't sweat the small stuff. But I will absolutely speak out if I think the big stuff is encroaching.
