Freedom of Religion

What caught my attention at first were questions 4, 5, and 6 on the survey. They questioned whether or not student speakers should be able to speak about their religion at public school events, whether or not student speakers should be allowed to offer prayer at public school events, and whether or not the first amendment requires a clear separation of church and state. What was striking about the answers were that the majority of people surveyed strongly agreed that students could speak to their religion in a speech at a public school event as well as agreeing that students can hold prayer at a public school event. The results however showed that people strongly agreed that there should be a separation of church and state. If religion can be brought into the school in speech or practice, then how does that elude to a separation of church and state? If church and state are to be separated schools should not allow students to speak to or practice their religion at the public school. The practice of religion might make some students feel uncomfortable, and could disturb the learning environment of the students. At Deerfield High School specifically, the disruption of the learning environment is never okay.

In the section "religious liberty," it was noted that America is one of the most diverse countries in the world. It is great that as an American I can say that I live in a country that is okay with me practicing Judaism while my neighbor is Catholic and the family across the street is Muslim. America being a community, it is important that we are all okay with each other. While different religions tend to have disagreements with other religions it is vital that America continues to work towards religious peace in our own country. In the case of the potential mosque being built in close proximity to ground zero,  it is important not to look at the religion that Al Qaeda practiced but the terrible people they were as individuals.

I chose to look at the section entitled, "distributing religious literature." The main point that I took from that overview was that it was okay to distribute religious literature as long as there was a reasonable time, place and manner. To me, it seems clear that the first amendment separates church and state. Because this is the case, it should only be right to have strict boundaries of when religious literature should be distributed. I don't believe that it is okay to force a student to study a religion, in classes such as history, that they are not comfortable studying. While a teacher may excuse a student who does not want to learn about the various religion, it is also important that, that student walks away learning the same amount as the people who opted to learn about the specific religion. In public schools it is only fair to allow all students to the same knowledge with out making them feel uncomfortable. Eliminating the distribution of religious literature would eliminate any problems regarding disruption of peace.

The article Schools Can Limit When, Where Kids can Hand Out Religious Material, had a right in limiting kids to hand out pencils that say,  "Jesus is the reason for the season." Church and state should be separated and by allowing students to hand out religious materials that may be attempting to influence other students to join that religion, church and state are not separated.

yours truly, 
Amy