It is my belief that there should be a definite separation of church and state. The matter for debate is how far those two entities should be kept apart. As the Library of Congress article points out, West Virginia State Board of Education vs Barnette reconsidered the Gobitis decision and “held that free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution denies the government the authority to compel the saluting of the American flag or the recitation of the pledge of allegiance.” While I have no problem saluting the flag and reciting the pledge of allegiance, I do respect another person’s choice not to do either or both.
The second article addresses a more recent federal ruling. In IL, a federal judge ruled against a state law that required public school students to have a moment of silence. Opponents view a moment of silence as a “back door attempt to promote state-sponsored prayer in school.” While I understand that a moment of prayer violates the separation of church and state, I cannot quite understand why a moment of silence is considered an “unconstitutional breach of the separation of church and state.” Regardless of faith or beliefs, it is (in my opinion anyway) intended to be just that….a moment of silence.
I clearly remember reciting the pledge of allegiance every morning during grade school (late 70s, early 80s) as well as having a moment of silence. In discussing this issue with my mother, she was quick to point out that prayer in school was the norm in the 60s. They started each day with both the pledge of allegiance and prayer. She even remembers singing religious songs at school. This was a public school in a rural community where K-12 was taught within the same school building. It begs the question…what changed more—the people or the environment?
Additional reference:
http://www.publiceye.org/ifas/fw/9412/silence.html
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What do mean by "environment"? Also, do you think that the "American" culture has changed so much since years back? What is happening to our culture here in American-if that is what you meant by "environment." There was no question back then that the "American" culture was predominently Christian; "In God We Trust" is even on our currency. Thoughts...there is a E-DB that addresses these issues in the last module.
ReplyDeleteBack in the early 1960s, I attended an elementary school in Dallas, TX. My teacher was there for about a month and then disappeared. My mom later explained it was because the kids had all been going home reciting Bible verses and that parents had strongly objected. This was a predominantly Christian area, but those parents wanted book learning and not religious learning. Perhaps that has changed over the years, and more parents see a need to learn in schools what churches cannot teach. Or perhaps it is because we are willing to recognize the voices of minorities who do not want prayer or religious instruction and who were not heard before. Or both?
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