Religion in Public School .

Running head: Religion in Public School 1
Religion in Public School
Name
Institution

Running head: Religion in Public School 2
Introduction
The debate on religion in classrooms is by no chance current phenomena, it is has been
ongoing over many centuries. Given the development of public school system in America,
controversy rose concerning the position of religious values and beliefs that took in children of
various faiths. For some communities, the debate led to bitter conflicts and arguments. In
Philadelphia for instance, extreme riots and bloodshed was witnessed in the 1840s because of the
divided opinions on which version of the bible could be utilized in classes for classroom
devotions. While absence of public appeal for classes about religion took dominance, criticism of
absence of such teachings steered California and some other states to include such teachings in
their system. Several religious activists blamed the court for having misunderstood the First
Amendment to remove everything on religion from classrooms.
In the case Engel vs. Vitale, a landmark case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that
it was unconstitutional for public officers to constitute an approved school prayer and inspire its
presentations in public schools. It was subsequently held that the government-initiative prayer in
public schools violated the establishment clause of the first amendment.
Religious practices should be prohibited in public schools because: There is a high
chance of potential abuse given that very few school districts have approved religious classes in
their curriculum. There is no harmony on what should be taught among the educators. Teaching
religious practices is questionable given that it is composed of religious wars, persecution,
sacrilege trials, terrorism and the fact that some Christians used the bible to justify slavery
(Fraser, 1999). All this would have negative impacts on the children and should be avoided at all