Study the Divine
It has been mentioned that various states in the U.S. are trying to legislate Bible study in schools. Even Trump tweeted about what a good idea that was. Personally, it seems a suspicious attempt to put prayer back in schools.
Which Bible would be studied? The Protestant King James version? The Catholic Vulgate version? How would the texts be analyzed, in a literary fashion or from a religious viewpoint? Would any mention be made of Islam, that considers the Old Testament a holy book? How would the differences in religious interpretation be explained? Would they be mentioned at all?
The First Amendment should put paid to those discussions in the states that are considering introducing the Bible. It says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,..." Thomas Jefferson later wrote an interpretation, in which he said the Amendment created a "wall of separation between Church and State." That Federal law was later extended to the individual states, which could have no established state religion (Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were officially Congregationalist. Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Florida were Church of England. Maryland had no official religion for a time, though its founders were Catholics, and that religion had complete freedom; until it was forced to establish Church of England as the official religion.).
Public schools are an extension of state bureaucracy, and there should be no mention of any religion as a majority belief system in them. There are too many different religions in the United States, and each of them is guarenteed its freedom. Parents have the freedom to rear their children in whatever religion they accept, but they don't have the freedom to impose their religion on others. Even if the majority of a population worships one religion, that school district is open to all who move into its area, including those who believe in a minority religion.
I remember a book I read back when I was a teenager, Summer of My German Soldier. While the theme of the book is about being an outsider on different levels, one of the things that sticks out, is that Patty's family is the only Jewish family in town. That was the author's, Bette Green, reality in a small Arkansas town. The majority of the town went to the Baptist church. One can only imagine that in the local school, any prayers would have been Baptist prayers, with no concession to the only Jewish student. I'm sure some would consider that only fair, but religion is very much a personal matter. While most of us would not be annoyed at having to eat food we aren't accustomed to, or learn to speak in a different language if we were in another country, we would be annoyed if we were told that we had to pray like everyone else, even if we don't believe in God the same way.
In Spain there is no established national religion any more. But Catholicism is afforded special protection, as it is the majority religion. This means that religion (Catholicism) is taught in public schools. There is an alternative class offered to those who don't wish to be indoctrinated. The program of study of the alternate class has changed over the years; when my daughter was in primary, the teacher used that hour to review math with the two or three who didn't go to religion class. In high school, I think she had that hour free, or token lessons on ethics, according to the teacher. Since then, the study plan has been cemented a little bit more, and includes studies in ethics.
Our children don't pray any more in school, but they used to. When my husband went to the local primary school, they started every day with a prayer. A crucifix was hanging on the wall in every schoolroom, next to a photo of Franco, later King Juan Carlos I. After the adoption of the Spanish Constitution, the prayers stopped, and eventually, the symbols came down. But the obligation of offering Catholic religion has never ended. The problem is that only Catholicism is offered, never any other religions, even when there is a hefty student body that follows Islam in some larger cities. Where is the fairness in that situation?
On the other hand, comparative and historical study of religions is an excellent way to bring understanding of different points of view to young people. A class in which different world religions were studied, delving into splinter groups, and how they have affected world history, would open some eyes and minds. Of course, it would have to properly imparted, with a teacher who has studied and specialized in the subject. The first year of secondary school, my daughter took a class called History of Religions. I thought that it would be an excellent way to have her learn about different currents of thought. It turned out to be taught by a music teacher who had no idea about the subject. He simply made the students look up images on internet of different religious figures, summarize their biographies, and that was that. What a wasted opportunity!
We don't need more inflexible religions in our classrooms. We need to open our children's minds to have them understand others, and to see that their little world is only a very little corner. We need to have our children learn that the divine can manifest itself in many different ways.
Which Bible would be studied? The Protestant King James version? The Catholic Vulgate version? How would the texts be analyzed, in a literary fashion or from a religious viewpoint? Would any mention be made of Islam, that considers the Old Testament a holy book? How would the differences in religious interpretation be explained? Would they be mentioned at all?
The First Amendment should put paid to those discussions in the states that are considering introducing the Bible. It says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,..." Thomas Jefferson later wrote an interpretation, in which he said the Amendment created a "wall of separation between Church and State." That Federal law was later extended to the individual states, which could have no established state religion (Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were officially Congregationalist. Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Florida were Church of England. Maryland had no official religion for a time, though its founders were Catholics, and that religion had complete freedom; until it was forced to establish Church of England as the official religion.).
Public schools are an extension of state bureaucracy, and there should be no mention of any religion as a majority belief system in them. There are too many different religions in the United States, and each of them is guarenteed its freedom. Parents have the freedom to rear their children in whatever religion they accept, but they don't have the freedom to impose their religion on others. Even if the majority of a population worships one religion, that school district is open to all who move into its area, including those who believe in a minority religion.
I remember a book I read back when I was a teenager, Summer of My German Soldier. While the theme of the book is about being an outsider on different levels, one of the things that sticks out, is that Patty's family is the only Jewish family in town. That was the author's, Bette Green, reality in a small Arkansas town. The majority of the town went to the Baptist church. One can only imagine that in the local school, any prayers would have been Baptist prayers, with no concession to the only Jewish student. I'm sure some would consider that only fair, but religion is very much a personal matter. While most of us would not be annoyed at having to eat food we aren't accustomed to, or learn to speak in a different language if we were in another country, we would be annoyed if we were told that we had to pray like everyone else, even if we don't believe in God the same way.
In Spain there is no established national religion any more. But Catholicism is afforded special protection, as it is the majority religion. This means that religion (Catholicism) is taught in public schools. There is an alternative class offered to those who don't wish to be indoctrinated. The program of study of the alternate class has changed over the years; when my daughter was in primary, the teacher used that hour to review math with the two or three who didn't go to religion class. In high school, I think she had that hour free, or token lessons on ethics, according to the teacher. Since then, the study plan has been cemented a little bit more, and includes studies in ethics.
Our children don't pray any more in school, but they used to. When my husband went to the local primary school, they started every day with a prayer. A crucifix was hanging on the wall in every schoolroom, next to a photo of Franco, later King Juan Carlos I. After the adoption of the Spanish Constitution, the prayers stopped, and eventually, the symbols came down. But the obligation of offering Catholic religion has never ended. The problem is that only Catholicism is offered, never any other religions, even when there is a hefty student body that follows Islam in some larger cities. Where is the fairness in that situation?
On the other hand, comparative and historical study of religions is an excellent way to bring understanding of different points of view to young people. A class in which different world religions were studied, delving into splinter groups, and how they have affected world history, would open some eyes and minds. Of course, it would have to properly imparted, with a teacher who has studied and specialized in the subject. The first year of secondary school, my daughter took a class called History of Religions. I thought that it would be an excellent way to have her learn about different currents of thought. It turned out to be taught by a music teacher who had no idea about the subject. He simply made the students look up images on internet of different religious figures, summarize their biographies, and that was that. What a wasted opportunity!
We don't need more inflexible religions in our classrooms. We need to open our children's minds to have them understand others, and to see that their little world is only a very little corner. We need to have our children learn that the divine can manifest itself in many different ways.
In our town the Seventh Dav Adventist laundry owner wasn't allowed to be open on Sunday (blue laws) even though his Sabbath was Saturday and he closed on Saturdays. My mother, far from liberal, felt he needed to be like everyone else. At the time I thought he was more reasonable.
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