The Freedom to Teach Religion?

The very first half of the first sentence in the First Amendment reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” yet, we have historically done the exact opposite of this statement and still do so today. For example, many private and public schools start out a school day by having students say the pledge of allegiance which reads “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Despite the fact that America was founded by those actively participating in Catholicism, there is an argument to be made that the very fact that God is included in the pledge of allegiance is clearly singling out and respecting a particular religion.

Along these lines, a new controversy has developed. Asignificant majority of Americans, including public school teachers, believethat public schools should offer a comparative religion elective. Fifty-four percent of teachers think public schools should offer a Bible studies elective and 61 percent of parents agree, according to a 2019 PDK (Phi Delta Kappan) poll. Advocates of religious literacy can now lean on the law, different educators and public opinion for the right to teach religion at schools. In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the study of religion is constitutional, as well on the basis that a “complete” education requires students to learn about religion and its relationship with social, political and cultural life.

However, there has been push back on whether religion classes should be implemented due to the fear of indoctrination. Thirty-eight percent of Americans are very or somewhat concerned that “Bible studies classes might improperly promote Judeo-Christian religious beliefs.” Twenty-seven percent of Americans are very or somewhat concerned such courses “might improperly encourage students to change their religious beliefs.”

In 1971, the Supreme Court Decided Lemon v. Kurtzman which created three tests for determining whether a particular government act or policy unconstitutionally promotes religion. The Lemon test says that in order to be constitutional, a policy must:

1.)   Have a non-religious purpose;

2.)   Not end up promoting or favoring any set of religious beliefs; and

3.)   Not overly involve the government with religion.

Applying the Lemon test to the teachings of religion in public schools narrows down what is acceptable and appropriate and what is not. For the purposes of teaching to engage students on what our founders believed in at the time that America was being discovered and how we see how we have implemented some of these principles and values into American society, the teaching of religion can be valuable. The moment that this is taken across that line to the point where it can influence the idle minded against their personal beliefs, religion class should not have a continuation in the agenda of public schools.