Every day, I meet new people online. Many are born again Christians, and many ask what I do for a living. When I share that I’m a teacher in a public high school, I inevitably find some who cautiously ask how I feel about God being kicked out of public schools in the United States.
I used to dive right into a discussion about whether U.S. laws regarding religion in the public sphere are "right" or "wrong." Nowadays, I don't do that. You see, I often found I was talking oranges, while my discussion partner thought we were talking apples. So now, I check to see whether the person I'm speaking with even knows what the actual laws are.
Care to test yourself? Below is a survey about public expressions of religion that I give in my 11th and 12th grade Humanities classes. This year, my students averaged 9 right out of 12. How do you do compared to them? Jot down your responses, and then check below for the right answers.
THE SELF-TEST
Decide whether each of the following situations is LEGAL or ILLEGAL.
1. A public school principal opens the school day by making the children stand for a school prayer.
2. The U.S. Congress opens its sessions with a Congressional prayer.
3. The U.S. Congress pays the salary of a Congressional Chaplain who's Muslim.
4. An actor thanks God when he wins an Oscar -- on public television, broadcast live.
5. A public school science teacher teaches creationism in a biology class.
6. A public school literature teacher teaches about creationism in a humanities class.
7. A public school English teacher requires students to read the Book of Job from the Bible.
8. A public school math teacher prevents a student from reading the Bible during a math lesson.
9. A public school teacher's aide prevents a student from reading the Bible during lunch.
10. A public school coach leads the basketball team in a short prayer before a tough game.
11. The student captain of the public school basketball team leads a team prayer when Coach isn't looking.
12. A student decides to start a Bible Reading Club as one of his public school's many student-led clubs.
ANSWERS
Remember, you’re going for 9 out of 12 to be as smart as an 11th grader …
1. ILLEGAL: Every public school principal, teacher, and employee is a representative of their state’s government. Current U.S. law requires strict religious neutrality from representatives who have responsibility over children. “ Neutrality” means the state representative cannot use the powerful influence they have over children to subject them to a religious exercise. Therefore, no public school principal can force Evangelical students to stand during the recitation of the Roman Catholic “Hail Mary” … the Evangelical students are protected from that undue coercion by numerous Supreme Court decisions.
2. legal: Both houses of the U.S. Congress open all but their pro forma sessions with prayer. To date, that practice has withstood all court tests, because the prayer is considered ceremonial and not at all spiritual or religious in nature.
3. legal: The prayer mentioned in the above legal act is led by the Congressional Chaplains of the U.S. Congress, who are paid with taxpayer dollars. No law prohibits that position from being given to a Muslim, although most sessions of Congress have hired Christians. The Senate has a historical preference for Episcopalians and Methodists; the House has favored Methodists and Presbyterians.
4. legal: An actor can thank anyone he wants for his Oscar. When appreciation is given, the actor's mom is usually the top contender, but God often gets His nod, too. This is one of the most basic examples of the Free Expression principle in the U.S. Constitution.
5. ILLEGAL: Courts at all levels of the nation have regularly upheld that public schools may not teach creationism in biology classes. Creationism and its offshoot, Intelligent Design, have been declared by both liberal and conservative judges to be thinly veiled expressions of sectarian belief systems, and not science at all.
6. legal: On the other hand, English, Social Studies, and Humanities teachers are free to teach about creationism and Intelligent design as both literature-based ideas and social movements in the U.S. How is that different from the above prohibition? In science class, the instructor would be TEACHING a religious idea; in non-science courses, the instructors TEACH ABOUT the ideas. There is a world of difference between those two approaches, and the non-science teachers must always be careful to maintain the religious neutrality mentioned in the answer to 1. above.
7. legal: Despite widespread Evangelical belief to the contrary, the Bible is not prohibited literature in public schools. A recent Pew Forum survey (Sep. 2010) found that less than a quarter of U.S. Evangelicals knew that it was legal to use the Bible as a textbook in public schools. Twice as many atheists knew the correct answer. I myself teach a course that utilizes the Book of Job as a text for one unit.
8. legal: Any activity by a student that interferes with the educational process can be stopped by a teacher, including personal Bible reading that takes place during a mathematics lesson. The instructional process takes priority over personal pursuits.
9. ILLEGAL: The above answer notwithstanding, no public school employee can stop a student from reading Scripture during non-instructional time. Again, many Evangelicals have a misconception that Bible reading at school is illegal. It isn't; quite the contrary, it's a protected activity, and any teacher or principal who tries to halt it during non-instructional time is breaking the law.
10. ILLEGAL: The coach is a paid employee of the school district, and is therefore bound by the principle of neutrality I mentioned several times already. He cannot lead student groups in prayers of any sort, a prohibition which protects children from having specific belief systems imposed on them by someone with undue influence. Even parents who would support a coach leading prayers would back away from that position if the coach began to offer prayers to gods the parents don't believe in.
11. legal: Students, on the other hand, can pray together voluntarily as much as they want. If the coach isn’t directly supervising the effort, students can make their own decisions about praying before games. But beware, coaches: If you encourage them to do that without your being present, you are again using undue influence and violating the principle of neutrality. They have to come up with the idea on their own and be self-driven.
12. legal: Not only can students read the Bible in school – they can start a club of Bible readers, as long as the school permits any other type of student-led clubs outside of instructional time. Teachers can be present at the meeting to act as behavior monitors, but they cannot participate in the proceedings or serve as group advisors. One note: If the school never allows student-led club activities, then it is within its rights to not allow Bible Clubs either.
So, how did you do? I promised my students I would tell them what other people scored on this survey. Please leave me a note here or email me any results or insights you have about this column! And as always,
Maran Atha,
Cosmic
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