Religion in Public Schools

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Recommended: Controversies about teaching about religion in schools

Ayasha Husseini Mrs. Johnson AC ELA 8th grade 07 May 2014

Prayer in Public Schools

"I do not believe that any type of religion should ever be introduced into the public schools of the United States." -Thomas Edison. Religion and prayer in public schools is a big controversy for schools in the United States. School officials cannot take sides on religion since it will violate the first amendment which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Establishing a specific religion in public school violates the first amendment, therefore public schools have to remain neutral when it comes to the matter of religion. Some people believe that teaching about religion should not be allowed considering it violates the separation of church and state, but that is not true. There are many issues regarding religion in public schools, however exercising your personal religion independently is not one of them. (Leitch, 1)

Many believe that public schools are for educating, not proselytizing. Mixing religion and school is not appropriate since schools are public and religion is private. Public schools are open to everyone, whether Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist or Christian. (Gaylor) People with all types of religions pay taxes that support the school; therefore it is not appropriate to enforce a specific religion on all students. Your personal religion is your decision; the government and schools cannot interfere with it. It is unconstitutional for the government to decide your religion for you. Government-mandated prayer would violate freedom of religion because it enforces a certain religion on all students. Allowing students...

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...est, Jr., Clifford B. Stearns, and Strom Thurmond. "Should a School Prayer Constitutional Amendment Be Approved by Congress? PRO." EBSCOhost. MAS Ultra - School Edition, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

Kynaston, David and George Kynaston. "Educations Berlin Wall ." New Statesman 143.4 (2014): 22-29 . Literary Reference Center.

Leitch, Keith A. "School Prayer." Dictionary of American History. Student Resources in Context, 2003. 265-266. web .

Lofaso, Anne Marie. Religion in the Public Schools: A Road Map for Avoiding Lawsuits and Respecting Parents' Legal Rights. . Washington, D.C: Americans United for Separation of Church and State,, 2009. Web. .

Religion in the Public School-Prayer in Public School. n.d. 28 March 2014.

RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BACKGROUND – RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN AMERICA & OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Third Avenue, NY: Anti-Defamation League, 2012. Web.

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