Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Religion in Public Schools Jackson Kincaid
Religion in Public Schools Jackson Kincaid
Mrs. Theiss
Honors English 2
1st period
9/30/16
The significant debate on religion in schools is becoming more and more heated. Many
people say that banning religion in schools would be unconstitutional, which in some aspects is
understandable since the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of religion.
Since September 11th there has been a greater tendency of Americans to want to pray together in
public, especially students in public schools. Some say that praying is a way to declare their
freedom and independency, but now they are being told that they cant express what they feel
about the events happening around them through prayer or religious activity. Although there are
legal and moral obstacles, all religions should be allowed in schools, due to the fact that
Americans have the right to practice their religion freely, moral standards should be kept, and by
restricting the freedom to practice religion in schools, they are forcing young minds to adhere to
All Americans are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S Constitution which states
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof. The first amendment of the U. S. Constitution provides the freedom of speech,
freedom of religion, freedom of the press and other freedoms that are of importance to
Americans today. The debate over religion being banned from schools is raising some questions
about whether or not that would violate the first amendment of the U. S. Constitution. An
amendment to protect religious expression in public schools, was introduced to Congress in 1994
after the Republicans won the majority vote in both houses since most of the Americans not in
favor of banning religion from public schools are Republicans. This amendment, currently in
Congress, has yet to be passed, but is still being considered. I believe that everyone deserves the
right to practice whatever they want and that schools should realize that students are different.
We need an approach to steer away from state-sponsored secularism and helping students cope
with what they believe. Also, students need to learn and respect all religions to help understand
religion, there wouldnt be any social morals and standards to live by. People live by a moral
code which is often influenced by religion. If it is pushed out of our school systems, we would
see our ethics decline. Author David Myers created an essay titled Godliness and
Goodliness, According to Myers, studies have demonstrated that the most charitable people of
our society are the ones who are involved in religious activity. Americans who never attend
church give about 1.1% of their income to charity. Those who are weekly church-goers (who
constitute only 24% of the population) give two and one-half times as much as the non-religious,
and account for almost half (48%) of all charitable contributions given. These facts prove that
religion serves as a barrier between right and wrong. This questions everything about what this
country was founded and built on. When we say the pledge of allegiance we say one nation
under God. There are schools that are not allowing students to say that because of separation of
church and state. Morals are based on religion and if we start telling kids that there isnt such
thing called God, they will believe they have no morals and society itself would change. We
would have a massive social change and kids will be raised thinking there is no God. There
needs to be religion in public schools to we can keep a social order years down the road.
Lastly, religion should be taught in public schools because the government is restricting
our freedom. In school, we are supposed to focus on learning and thats fine, but they are
teaching us how to reject religion and learn about evolution. The state wants us to adhere to what
they think is right and not what the students want. There should be classes allowing religious
groups in the school to help understand their own and others around them. For students who do
not believe, they can refer to not participate in these groups as it is their choice. This would allow
People can be opposed to the religion in school argument and it will have to do with
students that choose not to believe in religion at all. It is important to understand not everyone
agrees and thats fine. People have the right to decide whats right. They wouldnt support
religion because it could single them out and thats not the right way to achieve this goal. We
As seen throughout the United States, religion in the schools has been a heated debate
ever since it was created in the Amendment because of how personal and sensitive the topic is.
No matter what country you live in or how religion is to be seen in the eyes of the public or
parochial sector, it is a part of our history, our present, and our future which cannot be denied.
We are a world built upon religion, even if we choose no religion at all, in one form or another.
Religion has been and will always be a sensitive issue. Whether our opinions of various religions
are our own or shared by those around us; issues that are not of our own religion must be
respected for a population of well-rounded, open-minded, tolerant, and informed leaders and
citizens to emerge.