Religion in Public Schools

Religious Education in the Public Schools

ABSTRACT: Recently, several authors have cited traditional liberal principles to argue that religious education must be offered in public schools in the United States of America. These authors claim that exposure to a variety of religious beliefs and traditions is a necessary means to attaining the two goals of providing children with "open futures" and encouraging tolerance of religious diversity. This paper contends that these arguments are seriously flawed, and provides reasons which demonstrate that, in practice, these two goals cannot be accomplished by religion courses in the public schools. Additionally, mandatory religion courses in the public schools appear to be unconstitutional and infringe on parental rights and freedom of religion. Consequently, the goals of a liberal state are best achieved by not offering religious education in the public schools.

In recent debates, many participants have relied on liberal principles to favor the introduction of religious education classes at the secondary, and sometimes even the elementary, level in the public schools in the United States of America. I will argue that the public school systems of liberal democratic states should not engage in religious education. By critically examining common arguments for the view that the public schools should, or must, offer religious studies courses, I intend to show that these arguments are seriously flawed because proponents do not consider the distorted and harmful ways in which such courses are likely, in practice, to be taught. Additionally, I will argue that those proponents who believe that such courses should be mandatory are requesting a program of study that is both inconsistent with r...

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...s, et al. (eds.), Kindred Matters: Rethinking the Philosophy of the Family (Cornell University Press, 1993), p. 188.

(4) Ibid.

(5) For an example of this view, see: Laura Purdy, op. cit. or Stephen Macedo, "Multiculturalism for the Religious Right? Defending Liberal Civic Education," in Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 29, No. 2, 1995, pp. 223-238.

(6) Charles R. Kniker, Teaching About Religion in the Public Schools (Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Fastback 224, 1985), p. 15.

(7) See LaFollette and Macedo, op. cits.

(8) Eugene T. Connors, Religion and the Schools: Significant Court Decisions in the 1980s (Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Fastback 272, 1988), pp. 31-36.

(9) Brenda Almond, "Education and Liberty: Public Provision and Private Choice," in Children's Rights Re-Visioned , op. cit., pp. 137-138.

(10) Ibid, p. 145.