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GUEST EDITORIAL
DESTROY TO SAVE?
As time goes on and violence con
tinues in schools throughout the country,
more and more adults seem to be
spending more and more time trying to
decide what students should be thinking
in school. Recently, while watching a
debate between the six Republican presi
dential candidates, I heard several poten
tial world leaders state that they believe
we should have more religion in our
schools in order to reshape the morality
of America’s youth. Put up posters of the
Ten Commandments in the halls of high
schools, and teach the students to live
once again with the fear of God. That’ll
stop the violence. We’!' all be righteous
then. We’ll wash our hands with holy
water at lunch and sing while holding
hands before heading off to class each
day. Of course, everyone will hold hands
in the circle, and each student will sing
just as loudly as the next, because
everyone has the same beliefs. Of course;
how neat.
Scary, though, isn’t it? 1 am a senior
this year at a private high school in
Athens. My school is not religiously affili
ated, but since it is a private institution, it
is not required by law to exclude religion
from school. Fortunately, my high
school follows many of the same
practices of public schools. No
religion is taught in class, and
all religious beliefs are
respected equally. Yet, school
meetings sometimes include ref
erences to the Bible. The majority
of students probably don’t mind at al
since most come from families which
are of Christian faith, and most students
probably barely listen anyway. But what
about the 100 or 50 or 10 or even just one
student who is listening and is Hindu or
Jewish or any one of the thousands of
religions in the world? What about that
student? I bet he cares a lot.
In an attempt to offer the student body
insight into various religions, my school
invited a number of speakers to give pre
sentations on their different religious
beliefs. Among these speakers was a
rabbi who talked to us briefly about the
Jewish religion. Many students found the
presentation interesting and at least
mildly enjoyed learning about a religion
different from their own; yet, somewhat
ironically, some people privately voiced
complaints that a Christian minister
should be invited to speak so that stu
dents would be exposed to Christianity
just as much as other religions. Hmmm.
Ironic, yes, but all right. That’s fair. At
least an attempt is being made.
Yet, some may argue that students
have the right to express their religious
beliefs, and they would be right; but the
separation of church and state has never
infringed upon religious freedom.
Students certainly have the right to their
own beliefs, but where one’s rights end,
another’s begin. Religion cannot be
decided by a majority vote. Recently an
argument was made that a girl had the
right to recite a religious prayer before a
public high sch«.K>i football game, since
she had been elected by her peers to give
the pregame address. Well, most of her
audience probably supported her presen
tation, but some s*vdents probably did
not. If the religious content of the girl’s
presentation could have potentially
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brought discomfort to even just one
member of the audience, the presentation
was inappropriate for a public schcol
event, and any religious presentation has
that potential. The girl’s prayer would
have been fine at church or at home, but
not at a public high school’s football
game.
No one should have the ability to force
his or her beliefs upon anyone else.
Religion has its place. We are free to wor
ship however we want at any desired
church or not to worship at all. and if par
ents wish for their children to attend a
school in which religion is taught, some
can afford to send their children to a reli
giously affiliated private school where
each student elects to enroll at the school
and agrees with the school’s religious
mission. The fact that many families
cannot afford to enroll at private schools
does not justify the presence of religion in
public schools, though. The majority of
American families may be Christian, but
America is not The Christian Nation. Our
country is a nation shaped by countless
cultures and founded on the belief that all
citizens have the freedom to choose their
religion. Public schools are state insti-
tutionr and I don’t remember the
United States ever adopting a
national religion, so how can state
schools teach one?
There’s just no need for
one group of people to force
its faith upon anyone else. Doing
so would violate some of the
most vital principles of our country
and would undermine many of the free
doms that we are trying to protect. The
morality of the country’s youth cannot be
forced into shape by the presence of reli
gion in schools. Students do have the
right to walk safely in the halls of their
high schools, but teaching the Bible
would not remedy the violence appearing
in our country’s schools. Instead of
bringing peace and unity, the insertion of
a dominant religion into public schools
would only alienate more students, in
turn leading to more violence. Instead,
tolerance should be taught in our
schools. High schools should urge stu
dents to View each other with respect and
open-mindedness and to appreciate the
privacy of religion and each other’s right
to different personal beliefs.
The violence in our schools must be
remedied, but as a student, I hope our
nation’s leaders will search a little higher
up for a better solution. 1 believe that
most students value their freedom to
think for themselves and realize that what
is best for one person may not be the
best for another. Thankfully, a deep divi
sion separates church and state in our
country. The removal of this division
would only worsen the alienation of stu
dents in our schools and undermine the
very freedoms which we want to protect.
In the fight against school violence, those
whoso adamantly try to force their reli
gion upon others in order to protect the
morality of our nation’s youth may find
that they are actually destroying it.
Ben Bartlett
Ben Bartlett is a senior at Athens
Academy and worked as an intern at
Flagpole last fall.
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