Extra Blog Post #1

The First Amendment of the U.S. constitution says that Congress should not make any laws that infringe on an individual’s personal religious beliefs.  According to the Constitution church and state should be kept separate and because schools are state and federally funded I do not believe that religion should have any part in the school system other than any extracurricular clubs students would like to have. The Constitution has clearly stated that there should be a separation between religion and government and I think that should be held up no matter what. This nation was created under Christian beliefs, but today this country is not a Christian country. It is a melting pot of a variety of religions and it is impossible to incorporate every religion into our government without offending someone. Also, it is extremely important to keep government and religion separate so there will not be any bias beliefs or behaviors towards a certain group of people or certain policies that are intact or are in the progress of being put in place. I think that there are certain people who have respected what the constitution has laid out, but I don’t think it is as widely accepted and respected as it should be. Most people I come into contact with still believe that our nation should be centered on Christian beliefs and while I understand the importance of someone’s personal beliefs in their life, I disagree having a whole country follow a belief system and not everyone agree with that belief system.  I have seen religion present in schools by the different extracurricular clubs and activities. The middle and high school I went to only had FCA and that was because I lived in a very conservative southern Baptist area. I would like to think that if other people had wanted to started clubs that had to do with other religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. that the school system would support them, but in reality they wouldn’t. Of course they would have let students create the clubs, but the  administrators and/or teachers would have more than likely made a few discouraging remarks about how they wouldn’t have any members or how the clubs were too different to be accepted by their peers. Unfortunately, some of my peers in my high school felt as if their beliefs were not welcome or accepted by others.

If I attended a school that upheld religious beliefs that were not my own, I would feel out of place and depending on how different my beliefs were, I might feel unwelcome to express them and be myself. When I was a senior in high school a guy I was sitting next to in class was an anarchist and we talked quite a bit how he never felt like he could be himself and express his beliefs and the few times he did he got such negative responses from students and teachers that he never really opened up.  As a teacher I would have different lessons about a variety of religions and beliefs and be sure to create a “safe space” atmosphere for everyone so they feel like they can express their beliefs whatever they might be.