Religious Perspectives Entry # 2

The fight for religion in schools and the fight for schools without religion is one of the most worn out fights in America. All people want the right to believe the way they want to and for no one to question their beliefs or try to tell them there are other view points. Parents are especially touchy about this subject, as well they should be.

Education in Colonial America was, "used to teach people to read and write so they could obey the laws of God and the state" (Spring, 2008). It was thought that religion would increase the morality of the people and create "the good society" (Spring, 2008). When the founders and writers of our Constitution wrote about freedom of religion, speech, and press, I do not think they had any idea just how far that freedom would be stretched. They were living in one era and we are now living in a very different one. I believe our theory of freedom has evolved much like Darwin's theory of evolution.

I do not understand why the Theory of Evolution is suddenly thought to be a proven fact. That is what a theory is: an idea that just has not been proven absolutely true yet. There are seven definitions for the word theory found at Dictionary.com:
1.
a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.
2.
a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.
3.
Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory.
4.
the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory.
5.
a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles.
6.
contemplation or speculation.
7.
guess or conjecture.
They all say the same thing.

The struggle between creationism and Darwinism has been boldly in the news then it goes away. Unfortunately it continues to resurface. People are afraid that one way totally disrupts the way of the other. They can both exist to certain points. Religious people can not help but see that evolution has occurred through scientific data. Scientists should be able to see that like one responder to the article stated, "If we all evolved from monkeys, there should not be any monkeys left. They should all be humans." I found this lady's response the most intelligent of all. If we evolved from monkeys, then why has this not been going on since. Once we evolved into the first two humans, did evolution decide to take a break until its next great task? I had an excellent Biology I class in college where the professor told us upfront that he would briefly cover the Theory, but that he would not state his opinion either way. I majored in a science related field for two years and never had any problems separating the Theory from my religious beliefs. God allowed for evolution in his initial plan and Darwin realized it and wrote it down. My husband in a long distance truck driver and has his own theory based on years of observing people on the highways. He says evolution is going in the opposite direction. That people are going back to being monkeys.

The article about the moment of silence is just ridiculous to me. No one is forcing these students to pray to or believe in any god. If teachers are handling this time incorrectly, they should be retaught how to conduct a moment of silence. My school has a moment of silence and says the Pledge every morning during morning announcements. There have been a couple of instances where a student would ask to leave the room and that was no problem. No one is praying out loud or bowing or waving their hands in the air shouting. Each student is free to sit quietly in their desk and think anything they want to.

I think we all have the right to decide what happens to our children at school as far as religion is concerned. I do not condone the teaching of religion of any kind in public schools. Teachers are not trained to teach religion, and there are too many different view points within each sect. I would not want someone that I have not had extensive conversations with to teach my child about religion. I plan to bring my children up in my church, however, I will not be able to stop them from questioning Christianity or any other religion. I have found through years of teaching Sunday school, that that is what children do. They question everything. But I would hope that they will see by my witness that God is the center of my life and how with that belief and hope that I am able to tackle obstacles put in my path with a different understanding than those without God. I think the people who are proclaimed atheist have had at some point in their life a bad experience that has turned them so bitter they are not willing to open themselves up to any other experiences and they do not want anyone else to either. How Sad!

In conclusion, if we want to control everything our children learn and are exposed to, there is always homeschooling and private schools.

Theory. (n.d.) Retrieved September 19, 2009 from http://dictionary.reference.com/