Must Religion Be Completely Excluded From Schools Essay - 1,199 words

Must Religion be Completely Excluded From Schools? Must religion be completely excluded from schools? According to the Supreme Court ruling of Lemon vs. Kurtzman religion must be excluded from the nations public schools. On June 28, 1973, the Supreme Court mandated that all education was to be divided into secular and sacred.


By this act and that of the 1963 Abington Township Case the separation of church and state, prayer and Bible reading has been taken out of public schools. Taking religion out of schools is causing a changing of the worldview and moral standard of the United States. This is observed by: taking a look at the founding of this great nation; divided schools into secular and sacred is a myth; and by answering the questions of "What is truth?" and "What is the nature of man?" What began in the 1960 's as taking state mandated prayer out of schools became taking religion out of schools in the 1970 's with the ruling of Lemon vs. Kurtzman.


However, to fully understand the impact that this ruling makes upon the United States of America, one must take a look into the founding of this great nation. The early history of our country and the attitudes of our early Presidents showed a great respect for the Bible and for religion. Take a look at George Washington, for instance, when he prayed that God "would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demand ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example we can never hope to be a happy nation. " He taught that this nation depends on God and the principles God teaches, yet now these principles cannot be taught in the public school system. When Washington took the oath of office as President on April 30, 1789, he said, "I swear, so help me God. " Every President since has repeated these words. Also, on September 17, 1776, Washington summarized what every nation must have to survive. He said, "of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. " When President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, he asked God's approval when he said, "I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. " On April 30, 1863, Lincoln called a National Day of Prayer and Fasting, yet the ruling of Lemon vs.


Kurtzman makes religion unlawful to be taught in school. The Proclamation (taken from Dobson's, Children at Risk (1990) ) read in part, We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven... But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own... It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended power to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. (230 - 231) On June 28, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that all education is to be divided into secular and sacred. Educating For Eternity (1986), by Schindler and Pyle argues that "the notion that "secular" education is devoid of religious values is a myth.


John Blanchard asserts, 'Secular education has its faith and its values, an ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: public schools, moral standard, april 30, great nation, supreme court ruling

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