Lewis University: The Importance Of Christianity In Public Schools

Is it ok for students to express religious beliefs in class discussions, or through assignments? If you were Brittany Settle you would probably answer “No”. Settle v. Dickson County School Board, 53 F. 3d 152 (6th Cir. 1995), Brittany’s assignment was a research paper and her topic was drama approved by her teacher, which she later changed, without approval, to “The Life of Jesus”. The teacher refused her paper and Brittany received a zero. The teacher gave six reasons why she refused Brittany’s paper. Court ruled that Brittany’s free speech was not violated, by having to abide by a teacher's curriculum, and the teacher has control over the curriculum and classroom.

Jews, but how does that differ from a small country town in Oklahoma where the

LaFayette High School’s core curriculum is the basic Math, English, Social Studies, Science, and 2 years of a foreign language, which expands a general knowledge of basic subjects needed for further education. Covenant’s core curriculum, not only includes these subjects, but also strongly emphasizes spiritual and intellectual growth in order for each student to thrive as a Christian and be the person God wants us to be. Davis expands on this by stating, “Liberal arts skills prepare us to work together to discover and develop the potential God built into creation” (pg. 68). Core classes at Covenant also incorporate courses such as “The Christian Mind” and multiple courses teaching about the Bible. That is incredibly different from LaFayette High School, where teachers were discouraged from even mentioning Christianity outside of a history class simply establishing a background over the world’s major

Issues involving public schools and religion have been topics involving intense debate. It is difficult for the government to elucidate the appropriate boundaries of religion in the public schools. It is true that teaching about religion is permitted in the public education systems, but the real question is where the margin should be set between teaching religion and simply teaching about religion. It is almost impossible to teach about the history of the United States without teaching that religious beliefs associated with the history, artwork, and literature. More than the public is lead to believe, The Constitution permits religious activities in and around public school buildings. It is unfortunate that the

Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis, is written as set of guidelines of Christian belief. Lewis does not say there is any particular way to believe but he does make a point that the topic of religion itself is serious. As you consider whether you want to believe or not, you have to recognize how much thought it requires, and how thought provoking a process this decision is. Lewis covers Christianity in four different books within his book. In book one, Lewis discusses the Law of Nature and makes note of a tendency in humans of appealing to a standard of absolute truth in quarrels and arguments. He calls this standard the Law of Nature or the Moral Law. The Law isn't the same as the law of gravity

The statement “philosophy of Christian education” contains much information to be unwrapped. The term philosophy literally means, in the Greek, “love of wisdom.” In this case, the study of philosophy involves a “critical

Religion in the Public School Curriculum: Questions and Answers, which was issued by a coalition of 17 major religious and educational organizations,...describes the importance of religion in the curriculum through this statement: Because religion plays a significant role in history and society, study about religion is essential to understanding both the nation and the world. Omission of facts about religion can give the students the false impression that the religious life of humankind is insignificant or unimportant (Haynes, 2). Thus showing that religion was a vital part of the foundation of the United States. If we no

Damon Fowler, a juvenile protestant against religious activities, expressed his perspective of religious affairs before an upcoming graduation ceremony. Thus, his acts to stop the forthcoming religious practice that would have occurred during the ceremony took place, and the religious prayer was cancelled. Therefore, the aftermath of the high school student opposition did not cease with only the religious intervention. The complaint that was reported by the student, was also followed by an individual leaking his name as the one behind the complaint. As a result, Damon Fowler has been publicly demeaned by teachers and other students, physically threatened which also involved death threats, and was ostracized from his local community. The foregoing case is just one of

Religion, this is a word that has created many debates and arguments due to the world having multiple viewpoints and beliefs. C.S. Lewis decided that he would write about multiple views of Christianity, in his book “Mere Christianity.” Lewis writes about some of the main issues in Christianity, such as, ethics and humanities evident conscience. The deeper into his work one goes, the writing opens up the eyes of the reader to new views and new rationales of Christianity.

According to Littlejohn and Evans (2006), “The purpose of Christian education is always twofold, we want our students to grow spiritually, intellectually, and socially, and we want them to foster similar growth in society” (p. 18). This sums up the Christian liberal arts philosophy. Therefore, a Christian liberal education should be useful and practical. The goal of every Christian is to be like Christ and to serve others just like Christ did. While a traditional liberal arts scholar serves others out of duty to community, a Christian liberal arts scholar serves out of love for the Lord. So, the Christian liberal arts education should build the human person by fundamentally changing who they are and what they, preparing and equipping them for the good work.

One of the key core values of the Christian Liberal Arts Curriculum is faith. It is incorporated into every aspect of the experience, yet it is not forced upon me. I am allowed to believe and explore the different religious denominations without getting the cold shoulder. I am

Many people today have their own personal beliefs. In a school setting, there have been many controversial situations that have been brought to court to help resolve individual rights. As National Coalition Against Censorship (2017) stated, the First Amendment guarantees of religious liberty include the freedom to believe or not to believe, to observe one’s faith openly without government interference, Freedom of speech encompasses religious as well as secular speech, but the Establishment Clause is where Thomas Jefferson described it as “a wall of separation between church and state”, because it has important implications for religious speech and observance in public schools” (Retrieved from http://ncac.org/resource/the-first-amendment-in-schools-resource-guide-religious-expression-in-the-public-schools). For this paper, legal issues regarding grading of assignment, appropriate of displaying student’s work, application of First Amendment to scenario, and conclusion will be discussed.

I signed up for World Religions class for a few reasons to fulfil graduation requirements, it was something new, and learn new perspective. Originally I signed up for this class due to it counting for two Minnesota transfer circular goals credit for human diversity goal seven and global perspective goal eight. I also sign up for World Religions class because it was something completely new to me. I went to a private Lutheran school preschool through eighth grade. Than to a high school that was heavily influenced by the neighboring churches. The biggest religious differences I had encounter before college was how Catholic and Lutherans different in teachings about Mary the mother of Jesus, sacraments of alter/communion, and our annul softball tournament. Consequently, I knew taking this class would be a challenge due to so many new concepts. My expectations for the end of the class were by the end to have a new perspective, better understanding, and be able to identify key concepts of world religion

The Lutheran Church always considered itself an educational church, citing that Luther had fought against ignorance and superstition, while the “diffusion of light and knowledge was that for which he always labored,” the “southern way of life.” Education of both men and women would contribute to these goals. Education and religion were bound together. Schools were a way to hold onto the ways they had known in Germany, including their language and the Lutheran or Reformed faith. A pastor might serve also as a schoolmaster, or the teacher might read services on Sunday in the absence of a pastor. The Bible was used as a textbook, supplemented by a basic curriculum of spelling, arithmetic, and language. Advanced students might learn English, Latin,

As we go through our day by day lives in a very secular world, I believe it is very easy to question ourselves as Christian educators. We ask ourselves if we are doing our jobs exactly to God’s calling. Are we striving to teach the truth? And with that, what is truth? According to Gaebelein in his book The Pattern of God’s Truth, “All truth is God’s truth.” As educators we are called upon to cultivate “Christlike minds” (Moreland). This is quite the task, especially given our surrounding circumstances and constant secular environment. Not only are we, as educators surrounded by this secularism, but our young, adolescent students are as well. So, how do we accomplish such as task of guiding