The Importance Of Public Schools And The Separation Of Church And State

Since the founding of America, there has been concern with the church manipulating government. The separation of Church and State was to make sure the church did not become more powerful than government. In spite of wanting a separation of church and state, The United States of America became one nation under God. The earliest test of the separation of church and state with respect to education is McCollum versus Board of Education. This was a landmark case the United States Supreme Court in 1948 ended the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system in aid of religious instruction. “The court case which prohibited the state from sponsoring specific prayers in public schools was Engel v. Vitale, decided in 1962 by an 8-1 vote.” (Cline p) It is unconstitutional to compose a school prayer and make students repeat it daily. Although these cases protect our religious freedoms, there is some fear that expelling God from public school has adverse effects. God can still be present; teachers can lead by example and teach behaviors and ethics that

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

I am a religious person, but I do agree that religion and state should be two separate things. Removing Bible verses from a public education was a great step for American Education. I do not think that tax dollars should ever go to private religious schools. The money should always go and benefit public education. Again school and state are and should always be separate.

“Our government has been based on religious principles since the very beginning. The Declaration says,” We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by certain unalienable rights…”.” This shows that our constitution, made for independence, wants the American people to keep God with them in everything they do. Even George Washington declared that U.S. citizens need to obey God and his will. George Washington was the first president of the United States. If he wanted the people to listen to God and obey his will, why change that now? Religion in school is not harmful in anyway. People can get talked about and bullied for their religion they practice. That is life and no one should be judged because of their religion they practice or live with. This is a free country and religion in school would not only help the students and teachers, who do not know much about religion but help people to have a better understanding and respect for other people's culture. Maybe, some people prefer not to pray at school, which is not a problem. Prayer would not be mandatory. Everyone's prayers are different; students would not be forced to say their prayer. Only if they want to. “...the supreme court did not “remove prayer from public schools.” The court removed only government sponsored worship (“Ten Reasons”

In today’s society, the separation of church and state is a fundamentally important aspect of our government. Most any citizen would agree that the government should operate based on the law and the constitution, not on the individual 's religious beliefs, yet when the issue is Abortion, that stance is flipped. The debate over abortion rages on despite the supreme court giving women the right to abortion in 1973 with the ruling of Roe v Wade. Looking at both sides objectively, the pro-choice arguments lineup with facts, while the pro-life arguments are either supported by facts yet purposefully misinterpreted, or simply not factual at all. State governments pass laws that regulate abortions and abortion centers all in the attempt to close these centers down and stop women from getting abortions at all, including situations of rape or incest. Just as the government in Brave New World controls the bodies of women by keeping them on contraceptives and controlling their bodily functions through medication, the American government seeks the same control over what women do and don’t do with their body by denying them abortions and birth control.

Our society lacks a moral compass today and we need to find a way to return to our country 's founding values. Is religion the answer? some may think so others may say keep church and state separate. The original statement was in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists Association. In his letter he says “American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State” (Jefferson 1802). After this letter was written it went unnoticed or used until the mid 1800’s when a group petitioned Congress to remove Christian principles and values from government. They claimed that there needed to be a “separation of church and state”. Again it was unused officially until 1947 when in the case of Everson verses the board of education the court wanted to build the wall high and impregnable. That wall was never supposed to be as it is now referred to. We need to have the religious freedoms free from government control. How can a private petition be taken out of text and used as a guide for our federal court? Our forefathers were influenced by important values when establishing this country. Also, there were a lot of other influences in our founders thought processes; own life experiences, education, and even self gratification. Just reading The Declaration of Independence you can see where their

In cases having to do with constitutionality, the issue of the separation of church and state arises with marked frequency. This battle, which has raged since the nation?s founding, touches the very heart of the United States public, and pits two of the country's most important influences of public opinion against one another. Although some material containing religious content has found its way into many of the nation's public schools, its inclusion stems from its contextual and historical importance, which is heavily supported by material evidence and documentation. It often results from a teacher?s own decision, rather than from a decision handed down from above by a higher power. The proposal of the Dover Area School District to

First, a short recap on American history. During the 17th century, in England the official religion was Anglican, there were few who opposed his majesty and practiced other religions as there were punishments to these actions. Later on, these religious groups were given the opportunity to practice their faith in the New World as colonies of England. Finally, the pilgrims, puritans, Lutherans, and even Catholics had escaped religious persecution they faced in England; in the new found land they could freely practice their beliefs. Therefore, when declaring independence from England, the founding fathers wrote “freedom of religion” in the Bill of Rights and implemented a separation of church and state in order to avoid the government to influence the country based on religious convictions. In an article by Doug Weaver, Weaver references a book by Frank Lambert entitled “Separation of Church and State:

The First Amendment defines and protects the religious rights of all individuals based on the establishment and the free-exercise clauses written into the U.S. Constitution. Public schools are presented with a unique challenge trying to balance these religious freedoms students’ are entitled, while simultaneously maintaining a separation of Church and State. To facilitate an understanding for school personnel, public schools must take proactive steps such as establishing clear policies and organizing workshops to ensure teachers become knowledgeable about a student’s rights to religious expression. Although, these steps may provide important guidelines, they may fall short of eliminating all debates and avoiding controversy among the diverse student population.

Originally, the separation of church and state stands for the principle that the American government must always keep up an unbiased attitude toward religion, as opposed to the English system which has an official state Church which it supports through taxes. Unlike what a majority people think, the isolation of the church and the government is not required by the first amendment, despite the fact that they kind of have the same final objective which is keeping the government from officially recognizing or

The separation of church and state is a very discussed topic. There are some situations where there is no separation of church and state, for example government funding of religious schools where money is given to the religious school and or program. Another example is prayer at a public school event such a graduation; the program is started with a prayer. Many also say that the abortion laws violate the separation of church and state. The last example of which students are familiar with is the pledge of alliance that is said every morning includes the words under god; this shows the flaw in the separation of church and state. There are also examples of clear separation of church and state, for example in some schools no one single religion is being

he question of religious involvement in public education has been a controversial topic since before America was a country. Thomas Paine, one of our founding fathers, expressed, “As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of the government to protect all conscientious protesters thereof, and I know of no other business government has to do therewith,” (“20 Quotes”). While the separation of church and state was a necessity made clear by Thomas Jefferson in the first amendment of the Constitution, the question differentiating freedom of religion and freedom from religion remains intangible. The public university of Arkansas State confronted this debate in September of 2014 after the death of two of its esteemed football team associates.

There has been long time debate over the separation between church and state. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment together read: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”. In the case of Sante Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the Supreme Court upheld the findings of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In a 6-3 opinion delivered by Justice John Paul Stevens, the Court held that the District's policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games violates the Establishment Clause (Santa Fe Independent …).

The first amendment states that American citizens have a right to practice their own religion, and public schools protect that idea by not forcing that idea of religion on people. Removing public education could force parents to enroll their children into a school where their beliefs are not supported for an example being an atheist or being of Jewish faith. By removing public education, you are infringing on the student’s right to peruse their own ideas and not their parents and school’s ideas.

The Separation of Church and State gives freedom for the first amendment. Having Prayer or a moment of silence in schools and before sporting events can cause discomfort to others. While there isn’t a right or wrong religion or non-religion the government should follow the guidelines of the state. Religion should be separate from the government because there are many different religions, beliefs and conflicts. The world has many problems to solve and this is just a small but important part. Regardless of religion we should do what is right for the