Weber 1 Cheyenne Weber Ms.

Parrish English 1010 12/4/13 To Bring the Lamb Back to School On December 14, 2012, a gunman opened fire on an elementary school in Connecticut. He killed 25 first graders before turning the gun on himself. This incident became known as the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting. It sparked controversy not only of gun control and mental stability but: what is our society doing wrong? The conversation soon leaned towards religion. From the birth of our nation, religion had had a positive association with morality. Even Thomas Jefferson believed that [the] Protestant religion was necessary for American morality to remain upright (Winfield). In a nation where [m]ore than one-quarter of adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised (survey) there has become a growing concern that our children are not being exposed to religion. Many adults believe that our nation will be greatly improved by the introduction of a deity into schools. The ACLU is an organization that means to help the cause of bringing back prayer and organized religion into school. They vigorously support the freedom to worship, especially in public education. The idea of religion and education can best be summed up by this poem, which is a play on Mary Had A Little Lamb, Illegal it became, To bring the Lamb of God to school, To even speak His name!

Weber 2 And on and on the days got worse, And days turned into years. Instead of hearing children laugh, We heard gunshots and tears. What must we do to stop the crime Thats in our schools today? Lets let the lamb come back to school, And teach our kids to pray! (10-20) Our society puts a lot of trust in our deities, therefore, it makes sense that we would hope bringing religion into schools would help morality. However, rather than benefit from an introduction of religion into schools, society would see a negative change in morality from its citizens. There would also be a greater divide among students. One of the greatest problems that surrounds this issue is: what would be the baseline religion? One could argue that it would be Christianity, because that was the religion this country was founded on. But which sect of Christianity? George Washington was sworn into office on a Masonic Bible so neither the Protestants or the Catholics could claim the mselves as the nations official religion. So does that rule out Protestants and Catholics? What about the Buddhists, and the Jewish, and the nation of Islam? What about the Wiccans? Even if we were to integrate all religions into one peaceful coexistence, the limits would be pushed. Boundaries need to exist. When one prays in class, would one say in Jesus name, Amen? What about the people who do not believe in Jesus? But what about the people who will be offended if you do not pray in His name?

Weber 3 Although America was once a Christian country, it has now become one of the most diverse nations in the world regarding religion (Eck). In order to cultivate a greater social bond, we should cultivate this diversity, not let it stumble and fall. Bringing religion into schools would inevitably call for a baseline religion that would need to be practiced, which is nearly impossible with the melting pot of beliefs we have in our nation. The biggest proponents of this issue stand strong in the thinking that religion makes one a better person. However, is that necessarily true? Does going to church, any church, make you a better person? According to a recent study by Yale, no positive correlation can be found between religion and morality. There are, however, correlations found between parents that raised children in positive atmospheres, whether they were religious or not. Rather than assuming our religions will solve our problems, we should instead resort to our human attributes of kindness and understanding when raising a child. Those who are supportive of religion in schools would argue that they feel it is their obligation as religious leaders to spread their beliefs throughout the world. Its definitely a good thing to have a set of beliefs and be willing to share them, however, when one starts to force it upon others is when it becomes unethical. People teenagers especially will naturally rebel against a set of rules if they are not free to choose. Another argument for religion being practiced in schools is that if a school has a set religion, its teachers would have to abide by those same principles. That would mean that, ideally, the teachers would not only be good examples, but role models and counsellors. However, we cannot always assume that the faculty of a school would completely abide by a religions teachings and precepts. It is true that in an ideal world, teachers would be perfect

Weber 4 religious examples for their students. However, we do not live in an ideal world, we live in one wherein everyone chooses a different path to go down. Rather than prove to be good examples, there would always be a few teachers that could prove to be careless towards the baseline religion, thus proving to be bad examples to the students and instilling a rebellious attitude in the school. A major argument for bringing religion into school is the success of private religious schools. However, the success of that model can be pinned down to two reasons. First, the prime reason that parents choose to send their children to private schools are for an education. While there will be a religious feel in the background, it isnt anything to make an impact. Second, private schools have a primary difference over the public schools that are the primary issue regarding changes regarding religious policy: they completely lack diversity. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, The racial and ethnic composition of students enrolled in public schools was 58 percent non-Hispanic White, 20 percent Hispanic (regardless of race), 16 percent non-Hispanic Black, 4 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1 percent American Indian/Alaska Native. Among private schools, the racial and ethnic composition was 74 percent non-Hispanic White, 10 percent non-Hispanic Black, 9 percent Hispanic (regardless of race), 6 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1 percent American Indian/Alaska Native. While there are many valid arguments towards bringing religion into school, we can see it would only be truly successful where there is not much diversity. We are the most religiously diverse country in the world, and choosing a baseline religion to practice in school would be no easy task, and would surely leave many denominations out.

Weber 5 There is nothing wrong with religion. Theology classes should be encouraged, especially when there is so much ignorance in the world. However, religion will not solve our problems. If we want to improve the social health of our society, we need to encourage empathy and compassion. Rather than assimilate to normality, we need to be mindful of those with mental health problems, allowing them and their guardians to come from the dark and get real help. We need to love everyone for their differences and embrace those differences, including our religions.