God in our Public Schools

[mrsellis09]

What do you think about...

The constitution mentioning God that our nation was founded under?

Every single US currency has the word God on it?

Taking God out of our public schools?

[mommadixon]

First of all we would not even be here if god did not exist! So why would we take God away from our children? it is bad enough that most people don't even teach their children about God at home so they need to hear his name from somewhere. No i do not believe that they should exempt God from the schools or anywhere else.

[acurtsinger2]

god is a good thing, without him the world would be in constant chaos.  maybe if god was allowed in schools there wouldn't be so much violence and bullying.

[GoGoKokiGo]

Unless they decide to teach about ALL GODS in school, then it should be left out. Times have changed, there are so many different religions out there! School isn't church, if you want your child to learn about your god send them to your place of worship. I think that the people who are okay with that are the ones that are okay with that certain god. If you sent your child to school and they were told to worship let's say Allah or something that doesn't go along with your line of religion, wouldn't you be a mad? Why subject other people's kids to that?

[liljp617]

The Constitution does not reference the Christian god, nor is this country founded on the ideology of Christianity, nor were all the founders adamant on pushing Christianity into the government.  This is all blatantly obvious with just a little research and just a little reading into the context of the foundation.

"In God We Trust" and the "under God" (in the Pledge) were both added in the midst of the Cold War to nonsensically combat the view of "evil, godless communism."  They are not an accurate representation of the American public, and they are blatantly unconstitutional additions which should be done away with.



The teaching of theistic beliefs has no place in public schools.  If you want to teach the history of religions, the cultural/political ties religions have, and other topics like that that, go ahead.  But the actual teaching children to have faith in any specific god(s) or follow a certain religion is absolutely unacceptable in public education.  It is, frankly, morally reprehensible to teach younger children those things...along with it being obviously unconstitutional by the terms of the Establishment Clause.  

Contrary to silly popular belief, barring of religious teaching from public schools was not put in place to remove people's rights, it is there to protect rights.  If a school board all the sudden decided they wanted to start teaching Islam in a school district, began holding specific prayer times throughout the school day to pray to Allah, began mandatory teaching of Islamic traditions and beliefs, etc. people (Christians specifically) would be in uproar.  With the structure that is currently in place, this could never happen legally -- there is no legal basis for the teaching of any religious beliefs in public schools.  If you don't like it, get the Constitution amended; if you do so, I think you'll find that your rights are going to be infringed upon quite often and nobody will be there to stop it.

There is a place for education and there is a place for religion.  Education is meant for schools, religion is meant for churches (or private schools).

god is a good thing, without him the world would be in constant chaos.  maybe if god was allowed in schools there wouldn't be so much violence and bullying.

No, really there would likely be less chaos and more agreement.

There is no logical basis for saying there would be less violence/bullying if religion were pushed harder in schools.

[Ayulyn]

I'm gunna have to agree with GoGoKokiGo. Forcing one religion or one God upon many different children from many different backgrounds is bound to upset many parents. It's such a conflicting and touchy subject. It's good to be informed, but many people also dislike being "forced" into things. I'm also not one for pushing my views onto others because everyone is different and believes differently. To me personally, religion is a personal matter that should be discussed at home, church, etc but not necessarily in school. Religion is a very personal thing imo. What you decide to do with your life, how you live it, who you live it for, who you worship, etc is only your business.

I do have a feeling this topic is gunna have one big heated debate. 

[dlaw123]

First of all we would not even be here if god did not exist! So why would we take God away from our children? it is bad enough that most people don't even teach their children about God at home so they need to hear his name from somewhere. No i do not believe that they should exempt God from the schools or anywhere else.

everyone has different views on whether god put us on this earth or not.  This is a forum not a point of veiw statement/judgement incounter

[liljp617]

First of all we would not even be here if god did not exist! So why would we take God away from our children? it is bad enough that most people don't even teach their children about God at home so they need to hear his name from somewhere. No i do not believe that they should exempt God from the schools or anywhere else.

everyone has different views on whether god put us on this earth or not.  This is a forum not a point of veiw statement/judgement incounter

Although I honestly thought her post was nonsensical, impractical, and just plain silly, a forum is precisely a place to show your point of view on a topic.  Do you know what the word "forum" means?

[AmyTrivitt]

Unless they decide to teach about ALL GODS in school, then it should be left out. Times have changed, there are so many different religions out there! School isn't church, if you want your child to learn about your god send them to your place of worship. I think that the people who are okay with that are the ones that are okay with that certain god. If you sent your child to school and they were told to worship let's say Allah or something that doesn't go along with your line of religion, wouldn't you be a mad? Why subject other people's kids to that?

I agree with you 100%!! Your words are like razors to those who indeed need a wake up call on this matter.

[Sohcahtoa]

What do you think about...

The constitution mentioning God that our nation was founded under?

Every single US currency has the word God on it?

Taking God out of our public schools?

The Constitution makes no reference to any god.  The closest thing to it is the First Amendment that gives us freedom of religion.  The Declaration of Independence says "...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..." which references a creator, but it doesn't mean the Christian god.

The fact that our currency says "In God We Trust" is under a lot of fire nowadays.  It violates the First Amendment which states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...".

God should DEFINITELY be taken out of our public schools.  Schools should be about knowledge, and it is often that religion is countered by knowledge.  For example, people used to believe that lightning was caused by the fury of a god, and now we know that its caused by an electricity charging up inside a cloud until it discharges.

In my opinion, mankind invented god to provides answers for questions we haven't figured out yet.

First of all we would not even be here if god did not exist! So why would we take God away from our children? it is bad enough that most people don't even teach their children about God at home so they need to hear his name from somewhere. No i do not believe that they should exempt God from the schools or anywhere else.

Your first sentence is merely what you believe.  There is no evidence for creation.  None.  At all.  "Well it couldn't have happened any other way!" isn't evidence.  Making that claim is no different than saying "I haven't figured it out...therefore, God did it!"  If you haven't found your answer, you keep looking.

Besides, who's to say that YOUR god is the real god?

god is a good thing, without him the world would be in constant chaos.  maybe if god was allowed in schools there wouldn't be so much violence and bullying.

Actually, if you look through history, you will find many wars that were started simply from religion.  If anything, religion actually STARTS wars more than stopping them.  You know all the constant bickering in the middle east?  It pretty much all started due to differences in religion.

I think its kind of ironic to claim that religion prevents violence while entire cultures declare war in the name of their god.

[Falconer02]

^ ^ ^ ^

That's why we don't need it in our schools. Can we just leave it at that? Because there are way too many religious topics that always go the same route-- people post nonsense, smart people post corrections, and then the nonsense people don't read and post more nonsense.

[eSineM]

The last two posts just put this discussion to an END! I think people are brainwashed to ignore any facts.

[AXELUnholy]

^ ^ ^ ^

That's why we don't need it in our schools. Can we just leave it at that? Because there are way too many religious topics that always go the same route-- people post nonsense, smart people post corrections, and then the nonsense people don't read and post more nonsense.

I find this statement to be rather ignorant past, "That's why we don't need it in our schools. Can we just leave it at that? Because there are way too many religious topics that always go the same route". Just because people post their beliefs or opinions on a matter, whether those opinions and beliefs are on God(whatever God or Gods it or they might be) or not, doesn't make them nonsense. Not only that, but it doesn't make them stupid or nonsensical. What's nonsensical is when people make comments on those beliefs, trying to debunk them, which only makes the one attempting the debunking come off sounding like a complete douche. Don't like what's being said? Then don't read it. It's as simple as that.  

As far as whether God should be included in schools or not, it's a touchy subject, and if done right, could work. But the only way to do it right would be to teach about all Gods/Goddesses. Even then, some people would get their toes stepped on, figuratively speaking.

[Sohcahtoa]

Just because people post their beliefs or opinions on a matter, whether those opinions and beliefs are on God(whatever God or Gods it or they might be) or not, doesn't make them nonsense.

Its not the belief itself I have a problem with.  Its the ignorance of facts and getting offended when someone says they might be wrong.

Not only that, but it doesn't make them stupid or nonsensical. What's nonsensical is when people make comments on those beliefs, trying to debunk them, which only makes the one attempting the debunking come off sounding like a complete douche. Don't like what's being said? Then don't read it. It's as simple as that.  

You're making a huge jump here.  To me it sounds like trying to debunk someone's beliefs makes them sound like a complete douche, and that if something goes against their beliefs, and it offends them, they just shouldn't read it.  Am I understanding you right?

If so, that's a bad, non-productive, and possibly outright dangerous way to think.  Again, take my example in my previous post regarding lightning.  If we didn't allow people to research lightning to find out what it really was, how to produce it, and possibly how to harness it, then people would still continue to believe its an act of a god.

And that right there is my problem with religion.  When science gets proven wrong, they go "Oops.  Let's see what we did wrong and find out how to do it right."  When religion gets proven wrong, they cover their ears and yell about how they're offended.

As far as whether God should be included in schools or not, it's a touchy subject, and if done right, could work. But the only way to do it right would be to teach about all Gods/Goddesses. Even then, some people would get their toes stepped on, figuratively speaking.

Don't teach religion in schools.  Teach ABOUT religion.  Handle it the same way we handle Greek Mythology.  Don't say "God created you."  Instead, say "Christians believe that a god created you."  There's a huge difference.

[lynnc35]

Well, we wouldn't be here if God didn't create us, and for some of us to snub God, that is not my call and I am not the judge of any, but I am not going to snub my creator, no way, no how, God has done alot for me, picked me up and gave me a life, other then what I had being homeless and drinking, not a good life, my husband and I both have since came to know the truth and we both quit drinking and have a fairly normal life now. Because God loved us first.