Some of you might have noticed in the news yesterday there was an article entitled “Schools should teach religion. What they Shouldn’t teach is faith.” A sensitive, ongoing issue that seems to arise within the public eye is how do we address religion in the classroom. Often, there are misconceptions about what the separation of church and state means. Does it mean that we aren’t allowed to bring who we are, with our religious identity, to school? No. We, as students, are allowed to pray, follow our dietary restrictions, and practice our religious faiths within the classroom. The separation of church and state is meant to allow freedom for people, like the atheist student in the article, to be who they are in their religious or non-religious identity and not force any beliefs we have onto another individual or group of people. So where is the place of religion within the school system? Justice Tom Clark says, (quoting the article), “Religious exercises led by public school teachers are not okay, but teaching about religion is fine. Religion does have a place in school: as a part of lessons meant to show various religions’ place in history as well as their similarities and differences. And, around the country, most state standards actually require schools to teach about the world’s religions as a part of world history or geography.” The author says the goal of increasing education about the world religions will “help erase stereotypes of religious minorities and fill a pressing need to reduce ignorance about religion.” Hopefully the education offered to these students promotes an environment of mutual respect within our country so we may be brought together.
In this broadcast of The Faith We Sing, Miranda and I explore the Christian theme of faith and how it plays a part in our everyday life through a range of musical genres, both christian and secular and popular media and arts, such as the musical Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.
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