As we talked about her story she pointed to the figure she had drawn in the clouds and asked me, "Is God real?" I froze. My time working as a para-educator in the public schools had left an indelible impression on me. I had often seen the wide eyed aversion that classroom teachers demonstrated when discussions came to close to the "God" question. I was pretty sure I was not "allowed" to talk to students about God.
So, as this young girl looked at me with searching eyes, I asked her what she thought. She became distressed and did her best to explain that she feels foolish for thinking that God is watching over her. She said, "I think that he is watching over me and that he cares about me, but I worry that if I believe in him that people will think I am foolish or I might be in trouble."
My heart ached as I looked into her distressed face. She watched me intently and the expression on her face caused me to fight back a tear. I sensed that she had written this story knowing I would edit her paper and hopeful that I would answer her question. I realized that her fear to ask about God was probably the result of both a lack of religion in her home and the way teachers at school respond with fear to discussions of God. Children perceive the fear (or with some adults in their lives, disgust) their teachers have at the mention of God and it confuses them. This student was looking to me to answer her in an open way something she had come to expect from me.
I looked at this dear sweet girl and tenderly expressed my personal belief. I told her that I believed God is there, that he watches over us all and loves us. My clear profession of faith was my way of showing her that there are adults who around her who sincerely believe in God. I told her that she should never feel foolish to believe in God or be afraid that her questions would get her in trouble. To those in authority I may have committed the ultimate crime, but the relief and peace in this young child's face reassured me that I had done the right thing!
Today I watched news report of a young girl who had her school report censored because it shared the story of her Grandfather's prayers in Vietnam. The educators in her school district believed that any identification of religious thought expressed in a public school in any way is unconstitutional. This story is just one of many I have heard over the years. I did a simple internet search and read dozens of stories illustrating this disturbing belief that our Constitutions prohibits public expressions of faith.
Christian children like a young girl, Sallie, who wrote about flying a hot air balloon to heaven and when she asked to read her story to the class as was told, "No, you are not allowed to talk about God in school." She was confused. Her parents had to explain the facts of life and tell her there are some places that God can only be in your heart in silence. Her grandmother wrote, "How dare the world take this purity of thought away from my grandchild."
A inspirational speaker who speaks to teens struggling with substance abuse writes, "It's difficult because it invokes such controversy. Some schools won't even bring me in if I talk about God. They ask me up front, "Are you a 12-stepper? Are you going to talk about religion?" They want to make sure I won't preach to their kids, or try to enforce my beliefs about religion on others. (And I don't.)"
So, as this young girl looked at me with searching eyes, I asked her what she thought. She became distressed and did her best to explain that she feels foolish for thinking that God is watching over her. She said, "I think that he is watching over me and that he cares about me, but I worry that if I believe in him that people will think I am foolish or I might be in trouble."
I looked at this dear sweet girl and tenderly expressed my personal belief. I told her that I believed God is there, that he watches over us all and loves us. My clear profession of faith was my way of showing her that there are adults who around her who sincerely believe in God. I told her that she should never feel foolish to believe in God or be afraid that her questions would get her in trouble. To those in authority I may have committed the ultimate crime, but the relief and peace in this young child's face reassured me that I had done the right thing!
Today I watched news report of a young girl who had her school report censored because it shared the story of her Grandfather's prayers in Vietnam. The educators in her school district believed that any identification of religious thought expressed in a public school in any way is unconstitutional. This story is just one of many I have heard over the years. I did a simple internet search and read dozens of stories illustrating this disturbing belief that our Constitutions prohibits public expressions of faith.
Christian children like a young girl, Sallie, who wrote about flying a hot air balloon to heaven and when she asked to read her story to the class as was told, "No, you are not allowed to talk about God in school." She was confused. Her parents had to explain the facts of life and tell her there are some places that God can only be in your heart in silence. Her grandmother wrote, "How dare the world take this purity of thought away from my grandchild."
A inspirational speaker who speaks to teens struggling with substance abuse writes, "It's difficult because it invokes such controversy. Some schools won't even bring me in if I talk about God. They ask me up front, "Are you a 12-stepper? Are you going to talk about religion?" They want to make sure I won't preach to their kids, or try to enforce my beliefs about religion on others. (And I don't.)"
The very mention of God or religion in an increasing number of schools has lead to "God Free" school lessons, student reports, or even student expression. Students are hardly free in an environment where their thoughts are suppressed. The constitution was designed to protect our freedom from having the coercion of a state religion not to enforce freedom from religion. Not only is such interpretation of the constitution ludicrous it sharply weakens our children's education.
The suppression of religious thought and references of God in our public schools is devastating to our pursuit of a quality education. Professor Robert Nash, College of Education and Social Services, at the University of Vermont has never been one to shy away from controversial topics. In his article Inviting God into the Classroom: A case for religion in public schools, Nash writes, "In a nutshell, we cannot be liberally educated unless we know the religious foundation of our history. America is very much rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic — our politics, our art, our music are all tied up with religion. The same is true on an international scale, of course. We can’t understand the history of the world without some understanding of how religion has played."
The hysterical focus on religious oppression and the separation of church and state is leading our public school system to ignore the foundational principles of society for thousands of years and the concepts that connects our children to the generations of the past. God is found in every era of history and particularly woven into every step taken by pilgrims feet and pioneers. To teach history, government, and literature with no mention of God or religion and the profound impact it has had on the human history is to teach lies.
Our children know they are being lied to, they know their teachers are hiding important learning from them, and they are hurt and confused by it! They see the fear (or disgust) in their teachers demeanor when a student mentions God in class and the reaction is distressing. Those children who are taught in their homes to believe feel oppressed in this environment and they learn to sensor their thoughts and words.
I just asked my 14 year old son: "Do you feel that the discussion of God and faith has been a free uninhibited subject to talk about at your schools? Have your teachers seemed comfortable with the subject or willing to discuss it?"
His answer: NO! I can tell that those discussions, usually in social studies make my teachers uncomfortable. What is odd to me is that they seem comfortable talking about the prophet Mohammad and other religions but when it comes to Christ or Christianity they squirm and are much more uncomfortable.
Is this freedom in education, does this foster the free thought of the student, and the intelligent discussion? No! This is tyranny!
My observations are consistent with Professor Nash who writes that, "Public school teachers fear litigation, as well as administrative and parent disapproval if they raise religious or spiritual issues in the classroom." Many teachers today were raised in an education system that taught them that the constitution prohibits this type of speech in Public Schools. There is need for critical reteaching of this generation of teachers.
Nash writes, "The Supreme Court never said don’t study religion in the public schools; it said you can’t advance a particular religion in a public school. The courts recently went so far as to say it is even acceptable for teachers to have an opinion about religion and to express their own beliefs about religion as long as students are clear that this is only opinion, only the teacher’s belief, and it doesn’t follow that it has to be the students’ belief."
We must jettison this destructive agenda to eliminate God from the classrooms of our nation and rewrite the history of our past. If we are to restore the education that was responsible for the great ages of thought and literature and the ideas that enlightened generations of leaders and freedom fighters; the education that provided an unwavering moral compass to the generations who liberated the world from tyranny, we must rescue our children from the tyranny of those who push freedom from religion.
The suppression of religious thought and references of God in our public schools is devastating to our pursuit of a quality education. Professor Robert Nash, College of Education and Social Services, at the University of Vermont has never been one to shy away from controversial topics. In his article Inviting God into the Classroom: A case for religion in public schools, Nash writes, "In a nutshell, we cannot be liberally educated unless we know the religious foundation of our history. America is very much rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic — our politics, our art, our music are all tied up with religion. The same is true on an international scale, of course. We can’t understand the history of the world without some understanding of how religion has played."
The hysterical focus on religious oppression and the separation of church and state is leading our public school system to ignore the foundational principles of society for thousands of years and the concepts that connects our children to the generations of the past. God is found in every era of history and particularly woven into every step taken by pilgrims feet and pioneers. To teach history, government, and literature with no mention of God or religion and the profound impact it has had on the human history is to teach lies.
Our children know they are being lied to, they know their teachers are hiding important learning from them, and they are hurt and confused by it! They see the fear (or disgust) in their teachers demeanor when a student mentions God in class and the reaction is distressing. Those children who are taught in their homes to believe feel oppressed in this environment and they learn to sensor their thoughts and words.
I just asked my 14 year old son: "Do you feel that the discussion of God and faith has been a free uninhibited subject to talk about at your schools? Have your teachers seemed comfortable with the subject or willing to discuss it?"
His answer: NO! I can tell that those discussions, usually in social studies make my teachers uncomfortable. What is odd to me is that they seem comfortable talking about the prophet Mohammad and other religions but when it comes to Christ or Christianity they squirm and are much more uncomfortable.
Is this freedom in education, does this foster the free thought of the student, and the intelligent discussion? No! This is tyranny!
My observations are consistent with Professor Nash who writes that, "Public school teachers fear litigation, as well as administrative and parent disapproval if they raise religious or spiritual issues in the classroom." Many teachers today were raised in an education system that taught them that the constitution prohibits this type of speech in Public Schools. There is need for critical reteaching of this generation of teachers.
Nash writes, "The Supreme Court never said don’t study religion in the public schools; it said you can’t advance a particular religion in a public school. The courts recently went so far as to say it is even acceptable for teachers to have an opinion about religion and to express their own beliefs about religion as long as students are clear that this is only opinion, only the teacher’s belief, and it doesn’t follow that it has to be the students’ belief."
We must jettison this destructive agenda to eliminate God from the classrooms of our nation and rewrite the history of our past. If we are to restore the education that was responsible for the great ages of thought and literature and the ideas that enlightened generations of leaders and freedom fighters; the education that provided an unwavering moral compass to the generations who liberated the world from tyranny, we must rescue our children from the tyranny of those who push freedom from religion.
