* The 2014-2015 senior student signature series features area senior class students – and their own “signature” outlooks on a topic of their choice. A new outlook will be posted on Cross-Counties Connect each Friday. The series opens with point of view comments by seniors from Mountain Lake Public High School. The opinions can be found by clicking on the Family & Faith link on the website’s header, and scrolling down to, and clicking on, Outlook. Their teachers are Brenda Feil, Kim Syverson and Debby Jass.
Welcome Back God!
“Bless you!”
It is a common courtesy statement one often says when someone near you sneezes.
However, for a senior in Tennessee, that statement resulted with an in-school suspension for saying it to her classmate.
There is something wrong with our public schools; they have taken God out!
When the founders of this country formed the Constitution, they formed it around freedom and religion – not freedom from religion. They never tried to remove the church from society.
“The framers were a diverse bunch with wildly divergent opinions on many issues, but eliminating the very foundation of America’s heritage would have horrified them. On few issues was there more unanimity. The First Amendment was an insightful compromises between church and state, federal and local authorities.” (Bill Flax, Forbes).
Every state’s Preamble talks about God. Minnesota’s Constitutional Preamble says, “We, the people of the state of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings and secure the same to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution.”
Most of the governmental buildings in our nation’s capital have plaques that refer to God as a reminder of our Found Fathers beliefs:
* “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
* “Praise the Lord.”
* “America! God shed His grace on Thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea-to-shining-sea!”
In 1685, the first public school in America taught three subjects – language, mathematics and religion.
Sadly, in 1962, the United State Supreme Court – just nine people – chose to change the foundation that was built nearly 200 years earlier. They took prayer out of the pubic schools.
In my opinion, that was the beginning of the downfall of our society. By taking God out, the door was opened for immorality. Students are making decisions that could be considered immoral in what they wear, how they talk, what they watch and in how they do or do not show respect.
Unfortunately, because of the so-called “separation of church and state,” students are losing their religious freedom in school as well. Even though, in 1984, the United States Congress created the Equal Access Act, which is a lit of rules for students to follow and that gave students the right to express their religious beliefs – that right is being denied:
* A kindergarten girl from California was asked to bring something from home representing a Christmas tradition. When she telling the class about the Star of Bethlehem from her tree, the teacher made her stop and go back to her chair. She was the only student not allowed to finish. (Todd Starnes, Fox News).
* A 10-year-old girl in Tennessee was told to write about a person she idolized and present it to the class. She chose to write about God. Although there is no school policy that restricts a student from expressing their religion, the teacher did not allow her to finish her report and she was told to take the paper home because it was not allowed on school grounds (Todd Starnes, Fox News).
I want to welcome God back into our schools. As a student, I want to know that I can talk about my Savior without being punished. I want to pray when I want to. I want to be sure that – because of the First Amendment – the public school will not interfere with my religious freedom.
And, I want to be able to say, “Bless you!” when someone sneezes.