Public Religion

America was founded by a group of people, Protestants, who were trying to escape religious persecution, by the Catholics; the mind set for the set up of the American government is to maintain the separation of church and state. Today 48% of young Americas agree that this separation is required by the constitution, but for many past years people believed that in order to maintain the separation of Church and State it was necessary to keep all religion out of public schools. Times have changed and it has become clear that in order to understand our history, as a nation, religion must play a role so that students can better understand the mindset of that current era. Now teachers are demanded to teach religion in context to better understanding history, art, music, and literature, but the line is fine on what is acceptable in a classroom. The teaching of religion in a public school comes with extreme guidelines and a system of educational balance. The teachers are required to teach the study of religion, not the practice of it. The purpose of the study of religion is to expose students to other religions.
People say that this is not enough exposure to the religion itself, the simple solution? Have the parents teach the child. It is not the duty of the public school system to instill religious beliefs in a child, no matter how badly the parents want it. If the parents strongly believe in exposing their child to constant religious brain washing private schools are more than willing to do that, for a small fee.
 

7 Days In September - Movie Review

This movie was very poignant. I'm not sure what other words to use to express the close at heart film; as an American 7 Days In September reminds me of everything that is horrible in this world, yet amazing and moving in this country. The film does a great job in showing the horrors that came with the great tragedy of September 11; it is most effective in not only dissecting the hours of the collision, between the planes and the Twine Towers, but also walking through the days following. The close emphasis on the hope by American citizens that could not be broken by the terrorist act was not only heart warming but also historical.

A General Movement of Political Correctness.

Society is always in constant ebb and flow of what is correct to say in public. The United States Constitution is the rock of society, even when something is politically incorrect to say, it always protects our ability to say it. The first major Supreme Court case to take the first amendment into the class rooms was West Virginia vs. Barnett.  In 1943 the Supreme Court ruled that, because of the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, students were not required to salute or say the Pledge of Allegiance in school and that school officials had no authority to force students to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance.  This was the first major breakthrough for the protection of free speech in public schools.

It seems like today people undermine the first amendment and do not realize the consequences for their words; some people will go around saying the first derogatory words that come out of their mouths, abusing their rights to free speech, so some guidelines must be put into place to preserve order in a society that is always changing. Where do the guidelines start and end?  

The simple solution?  It starts and ends with you. The change that American must see in free speech is the change in people, people should not want to go around saying something derogatory that stigmatizes or victimizes others. Today political correctness is everywhere, but that does not mean the first thing we should do when we hear something offensive is to get a lawyer. Instead of suing each other for their words we should use our words to try and reach a reasonable understanding. Yes, each person’s ideals are different and it’s these differences that stop society from becoming “enclaves to totalitarianism” (Justice Fortas).  Everyone is a human being and each human being, while their minds may differ, have the same heart so while it may seem impossible to reach an understanding without a Judge it is possible with a bit of patience and effort.

Schools are a place of learning; in the real world, as adults, we must learn how to connect with people who have different ideas from our own.  If schools start to ban what is and is not allowed to be said when we it we will have no idea how to handle the situation. If school is not a place where we can challenge ourselves to greater ideas and measure social response, where can we?