I originally posted this at Wasatchwatcher.com about a push in Utah to put "in god we trust" posters in every classroom. I thought a broader discussion could be interesting, so here it is.
Why is there always some group of "well-intentioned" people trying to put Judea-Christian religious overtones in our schools? This time it's putting "in God we trust" signs in every classroom. They already passed a law back in 2002 that required schools to have the so called "motto" posted in every school, which I think is ridiculous enough, but to hang it in the classrooms too seems just a bit over the top.
It's not that I have a problem with spirituality being a point of discussion among a mature audience, but this isn't about open discourse, this is about overt Christianity in the classroom at very early ages. The principal from Highland Elementary, Reed Hodson illustrates it best.
"We're all about democracy and teaching how the Constitution works," Hodson said, explaining how he was frustrated by the push to take the "God" reference off money and the Pledge. He'd like to see the Ten Commandments posted in schools.
"Following the Ten Commandments leads to positive consequences in life," the principal said.
Hodson plans to have the signs posted in every classroom in his building next fall. It won't be an option for teachers, he said.
I wonder which version of the ten commandments he would use? I mean there are some pretty definite differences between the various translations. I guess if he wanted to be really specific he could post the entire scripture quote instead of just the bullet point summery. But then which scripture quote would he use, Exodus 20:2-14 or Deuteronomy 5:6-18. Of course the archaic language would be pretty confusing for elementary students. And how do you explain that "no other gods before me" part to a Hindu or Pagan child? What about coveting your neighbor's wife? Try to explain that to a six year old. My point is, religious texts are so varied in their interpretations, that any attempt to generalize the messages to cover a diverse group of people will inevitably fail. That's why we have so many denominations of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, because they can't come to an agreement on how to interpret the different texts. What could possibly be gained by bringing thousands of years of disagreement, anger, and war into our public schools?
Here's another little gem from the Highland PTA president, Erin Pritchett.
"The kids need to remember why we're all here," she said. "It's politically correct to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance and out of school. This country was founded by Christian men as a Christian nation, and it doesn't matter what God anybody believes in."
Wow, she even used the favorite curse word of the right, "politically correct". I absolutely love this argument from Christian wingnuts. It's like a nexus of misguided nationalism, Christian myth, and historical ignorance.
The founders of this country were dead against ANY national religion. Period. They were the left-wing radicals of their time, trumpeting democracy for the masses, secular government, and freedom of speech. Our country was dominated by Christianity, not by choice of the founders, but simply because that was the established religion in Europe and was brought here by immigrants. Our national leaders purposefully established a government that not only ruled in favor of the majority, but protected the minority as well. To allow the majority voice to stamp out all other beliefs would have been a return to tyranny. That is why we are NOT a Christian nation, because being a Christian nation would mean stamping out all other beliefs.
Putting up posters with "in god we trust" on them is not the issue. It's the unnecessary highlighting of our divisions of belief. These are discussions to be had with parents, not teachers and other children in a public classroom. Our children need to concentrate on learning basic skills in school such as reading and math. That's hard enough given the amount of distractions children have these days. Public school is absolutely NOT the place to be introducing differences in religious belief. Children will have their entire adult lives to discuss which God is God.