Atheists, I respectfully ask this question- How are Christians forcing religion on public school students?

Question

So many times I see atheists write that religion is being forced on kids in school. Can you give examples of this? I have seen just the opposite.

One of my friend's kids had an assignment to write an essay on a hero. The little guy wrote about Jesus and the teacher refused to put his essay up on the wall with the other kids'. Doesn't this show that it is atheism being pushed on kids, not Christianity?

I don't have a link- it was a friends kids assignment.

I don't know of ANY school (public) that teaches creationism. WHat schools do? As for the pledge, most schools don't say it anymore, anyway.

What public schools still have prayer? I haven't heard of any.

The essay was on any hero- it was a 2nd grade class. Kids wrote about Spiderman, Batman, sports figures, etc...

For the record, even though I am Christian I am opposed to prayer in schools, because any prayer that met the constitutional telst for non-establishment would be meaningless.

Answer 1

1) By getting teachers to preach.
2) By setting aside scientific research in favor of religious ideas.
3) Through certain of Bush's "Faith-based Initiative" programs.
4) Through vouchers which make all of us, including atheists, pay for kids going to religious schools.
5) Through pushing through Bible study curriculum.
6) Through public demonstrations around the school, such as "National Day of Prayer" (another government sponsored promotion of religion)
7) By getting kids to preach at a podium at school events, like graduation ceremonies.

Personally, I would have let the kid put his paper up on the wall, since that is a personal expression. Stick it right up there next to the essay on Superman.

Answer 2

The 'establishment clause' of the 1st Amendment says that government will not establish an 'official' religion. This means that teachers can't lead kids in prayer, teach religious doctrine, or do anything to endorse one particular religion.

Years ago I had a teacher who began every class with a prayer. Like a good Christian she always finished her prayer 'In Jesus' name we pray' (because, after all, Jesus said to pray in his name!) At one point I mentioned to her (quietly, in private) that I was Jewish, as were about 1/3 of the kids in her class, and that we were excluded from this prayer. She said that Jesus was -her- God and that if we didn't want to be led in prayer we were welcome to go stand in the corridor during the prayer. How many 7-year-old kids do you think are going to do that? 8^)

I think the teacher was wrong to refuse to put a student's essay about Jesus on the board. I would have done it, even though I'm not Christian myself.

But the teacher was probably nervous about it because there's a great ongoing controversy today about this. And that's because (some) Christians are working to reverse a long-standing principle of keeping religion out of school, and non-Christians (and other kinds of Christians) are fighting for their own rights.

Refusing to allow schools to endorse Christianity does not equal pushing atheism.

Answer 3

No, it shows that the teacher did not want to open a can of worms by putting it up.

I will not say that Christians are forcing religion on public school students. I will say that they are ATTEMPTING to do so. But organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church & State are fighting them, and the First Amendment is very clearly against them. The fact is, when a school is supported by all the taxpayers, it is unjust to make one religion dominant over the others. Since there are too many others to give them all "equal time," or time proportionate to their numbers in the population, or any other sort of dividing up, the simple solution is to keep all issue of religion out of the school.

It would be a good idea if comparative religion could be taught in the public schools, but it's too much of a battleground for that to be possible. Various schools have tried it, and run into more trouble than the course was worth. So now they just say, "That's for home; this is school."

Answer 4

It means that as a public place, she couldn't put his work on display in front of the other students. Maybe it's going a bit too far, but I'd rather err on the side of caution in those cases. I'm sure his work was fairly graded and counted toward his grade.

Schools, courts, and other public and government-run places must remain religiously neutral. That is not an endorsement of atheism, nor is atheism a religion.

Christians do continue to try to get prayer into schools (though they have gotten quieter about that and have nearly given up), and they continue to try to guide the curriculum with their agenda (removing evolution). That is why we say they are trying to force their religion on public schools.

So far, I would say that we are way ahead. There is no prayer in public schools, and most do not celebrate holidays with any of the trappings of a religion. This is good, because in this case, there is a clear right and wrong, and those who are trying to keep all religion out of State institutions are right.

addendum: I would have no problem with a Bible Study elective, so long as it was not publicly funded and there was an elective for every religion. This includes Catholic Bible Study, Protestant Bible Study, Mormon Bible Study, Koran Study, Hebrew Torah Study, Hindu Study, Buddhist Meditation, Satanic Circle, Pagan Rites, Wiccan Coven...

Answer 5

Well, I'm not an atheist, I'm a Christian. But I'm still going to answer, if that's alright.

Some atheists say that since kids are "forced" to say the Pledge of Allegiance, that's forcing religion on them. However, when I was in school, I REFUSED to say the POA based on that...and all of my teachers respected my decision. Kids are actually allowed to sit out the POA. They don't have to say it.

Creationism is not taught in most public schools, though some school districts have tried to bring it in. They've been refused. Some schools allow students to take world religion courses, but those are few and far between. I was fortunate enough to take a world history course (two years of it) that incorporated mythology in high school, but most schools don't offer them. So no, religion is not taught in most public schools in the US.

Abstinence only sex ed does not need to be religious in nature. If kids are taught that the ONLY 100% sure way of not contracting an STD or getting pregnant is to remain abstinent, that's telling them the TRUTH. And since when is the truth a bad thing? But most schools teach that abstinence is the ONLY 100% sure protection against unwanted pregnancy and/or STD's, and ALSO teach about condoms, tell kids where to get them, and tell them about various methods of birth control. Which is as it should be.

I believe that we would be doing our kids a terrible disservice if we told them, "Well, you're going to have sex anyway, so here's how to make it safer..." Shouldn't we try to have a bit more faith in them than that?

I also think that the people who say that teaching abstinence has failed need to read these articles:
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=1011103
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/194761.aspx
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/13/ap/health/main3054567.shtml
http://cbs2chicago.com/health/health_story_345150146.html
There are loads more, too!

So the fact of the matter is, religion is NOT pushed on kids in school. Not even in the Deep South.

Answer 6

Its not what they are doing now, its what they are TRYING to do in the future. Just about every year they try to force a bill through Congress to mandate Intelligent Design classes as well as school prayer.
Also, not 2-3 months go by when another teacher is suspended in this country because of religious remarks. Earlier this year an Evangelical math teacher in Utah was suspended and then fired because he read from the bible before class every day. THAT is not forcing religion on kids?
I don't understand why so many want religion in schools, is that not the purpose of Sunday School? No, school is a place for science, math, art, music, reading and writing...not religious dogma. Save the brainwashing for Sunday's.

Answer 7

Um, let's see, the fact that "Under God" was added to the pledge of allegiance 60 years ago and it is still there. The people that insist, daily, that Creationism be given equal time IN SCIENCE CLASS no less. The dozens of subtle hints, and outright preaching, that happen daily, to impressionable children.

As far as your friend's kid, the teacher probably assigned an essay on a hero that was found in History books. Not the Bible. If the existence of a book and his mention in it is the requisite for a hero, I can picture (and atheists, please forgive me for this, but...) some kid 2000 years from now writing an essay about his "hero" Harry Potter. After all, it is a person, in a book, that works for the good of his peers, often risking the wrath of the authority figures around him.

Answer 8

Luckily,it's not.That isn't for lack of trying on the part of Christians.They constantly TRY to make prayer mandatory,insert ID into the science curriculum,post the 10 commandments in schools and other public places.Thankfully,reason has prevailed and these attempts to mass indoctrinate our children in public schools has been kept at bay.But you must surely be aware of the constant attempts to force the belief in school,lack of success notwithstanding.If we did not resist,it would certainly then be forced.Respectfully,as I respectfully answered your question,you must admit the ATTEMPT is a true fact.By the way,I disagree with the teacher not putting the kid's paper on the wall.Freedom of religion goes both ways.I respect that and have no problem with someone writing a paper on Jesus,Both sides must compromise

Answer 9

There are some advocates for bringing religion back to the schools, often operating on the invalid belief that we're a Christian nation or were meant to be one. However, most Christians (then again, how does one define Christian?) don't seem to care all that much.

Now, atheism is not being forced on people. There is such a thing as neutrality, which is precisely what the government and all its organizations must seek. Schools do not advocate NOT believing in God, but it does not want to advocate God itself, either. This is a difficult area, as teachers must try to figure out if things like what you mentioned are worth the fuss or not.

You HAVE to be aware, though: parents DO complain and teachers DO get in trouble for stupid things like this. They're looking out for themselves. I would have no problem with some kid writing about Jesus in school as long as it isn't put out there to convert others, but the principal/board/district might.

But, as I said, atheism is not being pushed on people. You can hold your beliefs without talking about them all the time. Does not talking about Australia's culture in school mean we are promoting anti-Australian culture? No, that's silly.

There are no thought police... yet. Until then, think what you want, but try to understand that organizations MUST remain as neutral as possible.

Answer 10

Well ID is the first thing that comes to mind. That is such a religiously motived lobby that its not even funny

The second is the attempt to get prayer back in school or a moment of silence so people can pray its just a n pathetic attempt

Absence programs I see as people trying to force their no sex before marriage beliefs on others

but in the example you gave its not pushing atheism. I would look more into the kids report before I made the call.

Answer 11

The biggest way is the groups trying to force creationism to be taught. Now, if you want to teach this in a non-mandatory religion or philosophy class, ok, but not in science class.

The Boy Scouts routinely advertise in schools, on school time, but their group does not allow atheists, or gays for that matter, so they should not be using schools in this way. After school, fine, not during school.

Do you have a link to the jesus essay? Did the child stay within the confines of the assignment? I think I heard something about this one, the child was not writing on a topic he was supposed to be, but I can't remember details. For example, jesus would not be a living hero, if that was the assignment.