First Amendment Separation Of Church & School

The first amendment to the constitution is what separates the United States from any other country in the world. It is a codified guarantee that one will be able to practice his or her own religion without fear of reprisal from both state and national governments. By neither endorsing nor condoning any one single religion the United States has allowed for the diverse culture that exists today. The first amendment to the us constitution which was written and ratified in the late 1700's states that "congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Introduction to Law P604. Now hundreds of years later there's is much controversy surrounding the idea of freedom of religion and more importantly its place in public schools. While there are strong arguments that can be made both for and against the ethicalness of religion in public schools, most of these stick to a rather gray area. In this age of sex, drugs, violence and terrorism among public school children it is this gray area that consumes the attention of the general public at large.

Where the general public has strong arguments on both sides of this issue as to what is and what is not permissible religious conduct amongst students decisions rendered by the US Supreme Court have shown their position to be one of almost complete neutrality. In Weiss v. the District Board 1890 the supreme courts decision is that "there is no such source of strife, quarrel, fights, malignant opposition, persecution

and war, and all evil in the state as religion. Let it once enter our civil affairs, our government would be destroyed. Let it once enter our common schools and they as well would be destroyed." The decision suggests that the introduction of religion to civil and school related matters would upset the fragile balance that existed between them. It is feared that the introduction or avocation of any specific religion would lead to feelings of exclusion, which would in turn create feelings of discontent and possibly even violence. The Unites States Supreme court ruling in Santa Fe v. Doe 2000 states that "school sponsorship of a religious message is impermissible because it sends the ancillary message to members of the audience who are not adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of their community and accompanying message to the adherents that they are insiders and as such are favored members the community." This quote seems to suggest religion is being used as a tool to segregate instead of unify the student body. This is certainly not the intended outcome but definitely a logistical by product of such teachings. These two decisions which were rendered over a hundred years apart have the same central ideas of upholding the first amendment. The court essentially remains neutral pertaining to what might be thought of as government sponsored religious observances but respects the rights of the individual students to engage in religious activities of their choosing under their own initiative.

Joan DelFatters the author of The Fourth R, Conflicts over Religion in Americas Public Schools believes that "contrary to popular belief God has certainly not been kicked out of the public schools, what has been banned is the state sponsored and enforced prayer. Not the religious speech of the students themselves."P52. This shows that students are free to participate in any religious activities they choose provided it is on their own time. What is being prohibited is the use of designated classroom time to focus on promoting one specific religion above all others. This raises and interesting point however; what constitutes state-sponsored activities versus student sponsored activities if they take place on school grounds but on the student's own time. This is just another example of the overwhelming gray area that occurs when the actions of the school and the students overlap and give way to a disagreement on where to draw the proverbial line.

Democratic house representative James Trafficant adds that "A congress that allows God to be banned from our schools while they teach about cults, Hitler and even devil worship is wrong, out of touch and needs some common sense. " Since the government is constitutionally bound to remain neutral, they may neither endorse nor prohibit religion and religious study in schools. Where does this mandatory neutrality leave the American people and how is this imaginary line of legality drawn? While it is fair to say that the religious activity such as it is, really if at all in today's public schools is dramatically reduced in importance than in the later part of the 1800's its resurgence in popularity is on the rise again. But in the wake of numerous horrific school shootings and the terrorism associated with the 9/11 attacks, are we confusing the sense of unification, solidarity and that patriotism invokes with the feelings of unification, and comfort