One of the mantras being invoked by many Christians in America today is "Put God Back Into School". And in that mantra is a proclamation that there needs to be enacted certain laws and other mandatory ordinances imposing purely Christian dogma into a particular school.
To prove this point, let's establish what private rights students in public school have:
"Public school students have the right to express their religious beliefs in public school under the First Amendment right of free speech. 'Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.' As noted in Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263 (1981), the law is well settled that religious speech, even prayer, is protected free speech under the First Amendment." - source www.answersingenesis.org Gibbs & Craze Co., L.P.A. 2009
Other rights include: being able to read the Bible, share faith with other classmates, organize Christian clubs, etc. In fact, there are no hostile mandates against a student exercising or expressing their particular religious belief whether they be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, etc.
So, what's the problem? Why the beef about putting God into school? Is that suggesting teachers must lead classes in Christian prayer? That there must be Christian icon and dogma posted in classrooms and hallways? That the (public) school institution itself must "become" Christian?
I fear that what is being suggested here is that private right become public mandate. Really? Seriously? What about the rights of, say, a Muslim student? How would they feel if they had to be led in mandatory Christian prayer? Or, flip it the other way - how would the Christian student feel if it was Islam that was being imposed on them through the school district?
Listen, if there is any hope of our faith making an impact in anyone's life, then the answer does not reside in public mandate of laws and ordinances. Christianity is not a political power or rule. No, I would encourage you in that if you really want to make an impact, do so through the power of relationship and friendship, not law and legislation. Let our lives (as Kingdom citizens) be as yeast or as the mustard seed (Luke 13:18-20). Our faith should be lived, experienced, and expressed relationally, not institutionally.
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Excellent thoughts, Matthew. Plus, I'm just really glad you weren't posting about something involving a "Cross Your Heart" garment, kwim? ;)
ReplyDeleteGood stuff Matt. I agree that God should not be forced into the schools through the passing of some laws. Students who are Christians should share Christ's love through their words and actions and allow God to make himself known through that. I feel the same way about art. Some of the most horrible art has been labeled "Christian Art" The problem is sometimes people try to force God into things that perhaps misrepresent him. I feel that art should be created for art's sake and if the artist wants to create art that represents God then God should be allowed to flow from it rather than be forced and crammed into it.
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