No: Schools don’t need distractions
Every morning in grade school, we said the Lord’s Prayer. I still remember the words. That's somewhat remarkable considering I never believed in a god back then and still don’t today.
That said, being required to pray did not cause any lasting damage to my psyche. But I’m still convinced there are dangers to mixing religious observance with public education.
The key question for those who want religion in schools is this: Can you handle the truth?
Because the truth is different people want their children to believe different things, and that’s everyone’s right.
Based on the way our educational institutions work and drawing on past experiences, it’s almost certain school-sponsored religious observances would be one-size-fits-all exercises going against the preferences of at least some, if not many.
Even the most basic type of prayer affronts those who don’t want to pray. And meanwhile, some common prayers might be rejected by devout Christians as weak tea.
The most important feature of America’s kindergarten-throughhigh-school publication education system is that its governance is decentralized. And that same attribute would make allowing religious instruction particularly troublesome.
Because birds of a feather flock together and the members of many communities worship in the same way, there are minorities everywhere who would risk being bigfooted by majorities who would want their local schools to reflect their religious preferences. Consequently, introducing any particular worship — or discussing even the history of religion in local schools — is a formula for discord, which public schools need like a new rat population.
Rather than debate about religion, we should focus on teaching students practical skills. In our increasingly integrated world, technology has brought diverse groups closer together, requiring individuals to go outside their bubbles and understand broader society.
And even if greater discussion of religion were permitted, would local school boards allow teachers to talk about religious groups outside the mainstream? And what about Islam?
No shortage of libelous, ignorant rubbish is circulated about that religion and its adherents in the U.S. by groups including well-known entertainers, politicians and religious leaders. What would schools have to say about that?
But it’s not just Muslims who face discrimination.
My daughter recently gave me a study Bible as a gift. It includes a page that soberly explains why Mormonism is not a legitimate type of Christianity. And in addition to inter-Christian squabbling, there is anti-Semitism and assaults against Sikhs.
Us all getting along? The evidence is mixed. The fact is, schools have their hands full with reading, writing and arithmetic.
For the foreseeable future, I think we’ll have to make peace with the fact that, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o’clock on Sunday morning.”