Religion in School

Let's pretend that I am a devout Hindu. Let's further pertend that I'm a public school teacher. OK, we don't have to pretend that. I really am. Let's say that I like to start each day by having all of my students stand and chant "Hare Krshna." How many parents do you suppose would be calling the school before the hour was even over (cell phone technology)? And shouldn't they? Shouldn't they be upset that their children's teacher was having them pray to Krshna? Would they complain just the same if it were Buddha? How about Allah? How about if I had them all stand, cross themselves, and say a "Hail Mary" or two? What about a good ol' Baptist prayer. You know, the kind that invaribly ends, "In Jesus' name we pray"?

What it seems to come down to, is that it's not prayer in school that everybody objects to. It's who we pray to. But I'm game. I'll pray to whomever you want. But whom do you want? How do we decide. Let's say we go with the idea that this is a Christian country. We actually are willing to believe that everytime Jefferson and Adams and Paine and Franklin referred to God they were talking about Jesus. Never mind that they were all Deists (well, not Franklin. He was an atheist). Never mind that nowhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights or the Preamble or any of that other stuff do they ever mention the name of Jesus. I'm willing to pretend. Let's pretend that this is a Christian country. Which flavour do we choose? Is it Baptist? If so, which flavour of Baptist do we choose? Southern? First? Second? Ana? What about the Methodists? The Episcopalians? The Pentecostals? The Mormons? The Jehovah Witnesses? The Catholics? They're all Christians. How about the Mennonites? The Amish? The Assemblies of God? Church of Christ? Universalists? Where do I stop? Brother Larry's Sacred Church of the Holy Word of the Bible that Was Written for White Men Only? Believe me, he's out there. And he can show you in the Bible where he's right. Grant it, it may be a bit of selective reading, but then, aren't all of the above religions guilty of that...if only just a little? And believe me, there's nothing more that Brother Bob would want than for every school everywhere to teach his basic fundamentals to all of those children every morning. Well, maybe only the white males, but you get my idea.

What it comes down to is that children can already pray in school. There is no rule that states children cannot pray in public schools. That they can't bring their Bibles. In fact, the only schools where there are rules against praying are the private religious ones. And then their rules are against whom you choose to pray to.

There can be prayer meetings in school. Every year schools across the country have that circle around the flag day. They can have Bible clubs. They do have Bible clubs. What about Fellowship of Christian Athletes? And they can do it during school time. Or after. Or before.

You can even have prayer at school events, like graduation.

As far as that goes, you can even have purely religious ceremonies in school.

But there's a catch. There's always a catch. And that catch is, what we do for one religion, we must do for them all. After all, this is America, and if America stands for nothing else it's equality. After all, doesn't that Christian Constitution of ours claim that "All Men are created equal"? (OK, Brother Bob, it may not say all White Men, but at least it says Men.)

If we want to have a Bible club, we must also allow a Koran club. A Wican club. If we allow the Baptists to pray in our auditorium, we must also allow the Coptics (They're a religion from Jamaica that believes copious amounts of marijuana are necessary to worship God).

Students can pray at Graduation. Adults can't (hey, it's their graduation, after all). And even at that, the students can't proseletyze.

Religion can also be taught in school. But not just one. All of them. And not as if one were more true, more right than another.

And anybody can pray anytime they want. You just can't pray outloud in the middle of a test. But then, generally, the teachers don't want the students doing anything outloud in the middle of a test.

So those of you who are claiming that religion has been taken out of schools, do your homework. Stop repeating what radio talk show hosts have told you as if they really know. As if you really know. Religion can co-exist with education. It always has. It's just that nobody wants their children to have to chant Hare Krsna every morning. Or for that matter, do we really want our children to affirm that we have one nation under God? Whose God?

Hare Krshna.