Chapter 3: Families and Communities

Due to the fact that is is unconstitutional as well as proselytizing, teachers should not and cannot promote a religion in any school environment. The first amendment states that the church and state must remain separate. By favoring a religion in the classroom or school setting, teacher who is doing so is proselytizing, or "recruiting new members to one's faith"(106, Bedford Handbook). Teaching students about religion is not illegal, in fact, "religion is a legitimate discipline that can be taught in public schools" (106, Bedford Handbook). This can be done by teaching comparative religion courses so students can learn more about all the diffrent types of relgion there are in the world. It can also be done by having students read the Bible as literature to further understand Biblical allusions in classic works, such as Moby Dick and The Scarlet Letter. By law, prayer in public schools is not allowed, but if it is done individully, instead of lead by a staff member or a school offical. Private prayer is leagle while public prayer is not. Just because religion cannot be promoted in school does not mean it is an unimportant aspect in student's lives. The line is drawn to distinguish religious beliefs held by people from relgious history and the comparrision of relgious. This comparrision is not to say one relgion is better than the other, but simply to allow students to see all that is out there and help them find respect and understanding for their schoolmates relgious beliefs. Overall, religion cannot be promoted in any school setting.