Education 1
Final Paper/Education and Religion
Melanie Smith
Dr. Elia Haggar-Instructor
HIS 324
February 17, 2008
Education 2
Education and religion has been separated for many years and should stay that way so the proper religious education is obtained by the student through the appropriate educators, which should probably be someone that has obtained a degree in theology, not education. This topic is extremely complex and of great controversy, especially in public schools.
School officials, teachers, parents, pastors, as well as students deal with and wrestle with this issue everyday. Should public schools invite religion into the current curriculum. There has been much thought and argument regarding the separation of church and state and the first amendment weather or not this is constitutional or not. “Decision makers must address many competing demands, invariably looking to balance the twin constitutional mandates of separation of church and state and the right to freely exercise religion. They must include in their thinking the needs and rights of both the religious and the non-religious. Furthermore, decision makers must strive towards a vision of a pluralistic America that is open and welcoming to all groups, including religious minorities.” (http://www.adl.org/religion_ps_2004/)
One of the major concerns with incorporating religion in public schools is that the teachers may be partial to the religion or lack there of, to the religion of their preference. Another concern is that the teachers are not qualified to teach religion and religion should be taught by a pastor or someone fully qualified in theology. “All of us should recognize that although we may define it differently, our common goal is to ensure that the vision of religious liberty upon which this nation was founded is preserved. Few Americans would disagree that our individual religious freedom is extremely precious and that no
Education 3
one should be...