Mindful Monday: Liberty and Justice For All

Liberty and Justice For All

On the heels of the horrific shooting in Newtown, CT, we have seen a number of people, famous and otherwise, politicizing the tragedy and making certain religious assertions. While I understand the need to use this issue as a lightning rod to affect change, the focus right now should be on the kids both in Newtown and around the country. Gun control debates aside, there is a meme that has been floating around that captures the kind of religious assertion that I find disturbing.

Lets start with some facts. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution has generally been interpreted to prohibit 1) the establishment of a national religion by Congress, or the preference of one religion over another by the U.S. government. In the 1963 ruling that combined two cases, the Supreme Court determined that prayers written for public school use by the States were unconstitutional, and that the required recitation of the Lord’s Prayer or daily Bible readings violated the Establishment Clause. (see Abington Township School District v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett) This effectively ended all prayers in schools, not just Christian prayer--albeit the majority of prayer going on in school was Christian. 

This is often misinterpreted as a rebuke of God by general society and to stifle religious rights.These sentiments, however, are without basis and present a skewed argument.  How fair is it to the young Hindu child to require a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in class? If you are not Muslim and your child had to pause five times a day face the east and recite the Fajr, Ruhr, Asr, Maghrib and Ishaa, I would assume that you would not  take very kindly to this form of force. 

The ruling was an attempt to make our public schools and our country more accepting of all systems of belief. This absurd idea that God somehow allows these tragedies to happen because he is “not allowed” in our public schools, implicates both immaturity and ignorance. If that is the manner of the deity you serve, you might want to take stock of your moral and mental faculties. 

I firmly believe that all religious teachings and doctrine should be left out of public schools. I don’t expect my children’s teachers to raise my kids or to teach them what morals or practices I believe to be essential--that is my job as a parent. If you wish your child’s education to include religious doctrine there are Catholic schools and Christian academies for exactly that purpose. Public schools are just that, for the public. Last I checked, the general public consisted of a myriad of demographics with different needs, standards, and practices. What people are failing to grasp about this is that America is a free country, it is a great country, and it is a country based on the idea that its diverse population can exercise individual rights without infringing upon the rights of others.

As a Connecticut native with young family members in the area, this tragedy hit especially close to home for me. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the families affected.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you.