I was born in 1956, in Cincinnati, Ohio. We lived in a residential section of the city called Clifton, just north of the University and near the Zoo. Clifton had (and still has) a small business section, from the corner of Clifton and Ludlow. Mom didn\u2019t drive, so we walked a lot; to the movie theatre on Ludlow (with air conditioning) the Graeter\u2019s Ice Cream next door, and the IGA grocery across the street. And when I got old enough, I\u2019d follow my sisters to Clifton School, a couple of blocks up Clifton Avenue. It was \u201cold\u201d even then, with a beautiful fountain in front of the building, originally designed for the tram horses, dogs and people to get water back in 1887. It\u2019s still there today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went to kindergarten at the Clifton School \u201cannex\u201d in 1960. To get to school we had to pass The Annunciation Roman Catholic Church. Kids went to school there too. I remember wondering why they weren\u2019t \u201cgood enough\u201d to go to Clifton was us. And while we moved to Michigan for my first grade year, by second grade we were back, in 1962. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of that time, it wasn\u2019t unusual for my teachers to tell Bible stories, or even start the day with the Lord\u2019s Prayer. It didn\u2019t seem odd or different to me; they were the same prayers and stories I heard right down the street at Calvary Episcopal Church on Sundays, as I squirmed in the pew and Dad struggled, and usually failed, to stay awake. (Now that I\u2019m older, I appreciate his struggle so much more!!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I didn\u2019t know then, was that the Supreme Court was already in the process of ending teacher led \u201creligious instruction\u201d in schools. In 1962 and \u201963, there were a series of cases where the Court found that prayer and Bible stories were in violation of the First Amendment religious freedom clause. It was actually simple reasoning: my second grade teacher, Mrs. Meyer, was employed by the Cincinnati Public Schools, the \u201cgovernment\u201d. And when she led us in the Lord\u2019s Prayer, she was, in fact, the \u201cgovernment\u201d teaching a specific religious belief, something that the \u201cestablishment clause\u201d of the First Amendment prohibited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So by 1963 teachers no longer told Bible parables, and no longer began their classes in prayer. But, for the next couple of years, they did allow some students to leave, once a week, for an hour of religious instruction. We\u2019d walk past the fountain up Clifton Avenue, make the hazardous crossing over to Calvary Church, and spend an hour in the basement learning about religion. I don\u2019t know if kids went to other churches, or synagogues, then as well. My friends mostly went to Calvary, or they stayed at school. But that ended as well. Courts ruled that the school was still \u201cestablishing\u201d religion by allowing \u201cschool time\u201d for specific religious instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It stayed that way for my public education. We moved to Kettering near Dayton, and then back to the Cincinnati suburb of Wyoming. Religious instruction by the school was banned. But that didn\u2019t mean we didn\u2019t learn about religion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a lot of student-to-student instruction. And, in a highly academic school like Wyoming there were lots of choices. The early 1970’s was an era of Christian evangelism, and there were lunchroom discussions of who was going to Hell. There were also Jewish kids, who seemed to know more about the Old Testament Bible than anyone else. Then there were the \u201cnew age\u201d kids, those that fell into the Hare Krishna\u2019s or the Moonies or the other cult religions of the early 70\u2019s. And there were a lot of kids (me included) who were skeptical about the whole concept of religion. We were often the targets of all of the others evangelistic ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there was always religion in school, and prayer in school as well. The old saying is; \u201cAs long as there are tests there will be prayer in school\u201d. And that\u2019s true. Kids could pray, kids could talk, kids could even instruct. But the institution, the government, wasn\u2019t allowed to have \u201ca hand\u201d in the game. Schools were the government, and had to be neutral on religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I became a public school teacher and coach, I was very aware of the boundaries of the \u201cestablishment clause\u201d. I taught about it to my senior government students. My \u201cdaring\u201d lesson plan opened with a recitation of a prayer: \u201cHare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare, Hare, Krishna, Krishna\u201d. Students in those days at my school, Watkins Memorial in Pataskala, didn\u2019t recognize what religion that represented. (Today there is a strong minority of West Asian students who know their own religions well). And almost every time, some kid would finally say \u201cYou can\u2019t do that!!\u201d. So the lesson would begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as a coach, I often had athletes want to pray before a competition. That was always their choice, but my coaches and I stayed out of that \u201chuddle\u201d. We had a full-team huddle were I did my best to inspire and prepare them for the contest (followed by \u201c1-2-3, KSA\u201d), but any religious gathering was on their own. They could pray if they wanted; we, the \u201cgovernment\u201d (employed by the school) could not \u201cestablish\u201d religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, I\u2019m saddened to see that the government is now \u201ctaking a hand\u201d. Our divisive politics are blended with religious extremism, so much so that, for many, their political view includes \u201cnot discriminating\u201d against their accepted religion. So the majority in many areas determined that schools should be \u201cfree\u201d to teach their religion, or at least, make at convenient for their particular religious ideas to be taught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, teachers aren\u2019t starting the school day in prayer, yet. But our community, state, and nation, are starting down the slippery slope of \u201cestablishment\u201d. The Supreme Court now allows a coach to kneel in the middle of the football field in prayer at the end of the game, full lights on and the band playing. Sure, he\u2019s practicing his own religion, but he\u2019s teaching by example with the full regalia of \u201cthe government\u201d on his side. His players join him, some from sincere belief, some going along with the crowd, some in hopes of getting in the starting lineup next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And here in Ohio (and other states), an Evangelical Christian group has persuaded the Governor and state legislature to require school districts to allow them to \u201cvoluntarily\u201d take kids out of school for religious instruction, much as I did back in the mid-1960\u2019s. The school is giving up its time to a religion, a mere step away from endorsement, establishment, of religion. And from a kid\u2019s standpoint, if the school says it\u2019s OK, doesn\u2019t it mean that it\u2019s OK? Is that same school district going to allow the Church of Satanism to do the same \u2013 pull up in a bright red bus, to take kids away for \u201cinstruction\u201d? And if they aren\u2019t \u2013 well \u2013 what is \u201cestablished\u201d then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, the Christian group wants to make their \u201cpullout\u201d a \u201ccool time\u201d for kids. They are, after all, evangelistic, wanting to spread the \u201cgood word\u201d of their belief to the world. Why wouldn\u2019t any third grader want to be one of the \u201ccool kids\u201d who get out of school. And that\u2019s all well and good, except, they are doing it on public school time, and with the actual \u201cblessing\u201d of the school district, the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the problem?\u00a0\u00a0What about all of those Jewish and Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus and Agnostics and Atheists in the public schools here in Pataskala.\u00a0\u00a0The district has \u201cblessed\u201d one group, giving them the sacred trust of custody of children during the school day.\u00a0\u00a0What does that say to the other kids of other religions?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not only has the local government \u201ctaken a side\u201d, but the State legislature and even the new Lieutenant Governor have \u201cput a thumb\u201d on the scale of government and religion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s the job, more importantly, it\u2019s the duty, of the schools to protect the First Amendment right of ALL of the children (and parents and taxpayers like me) in a community. It is the sacred trust of the schools to teach religious freedom, not a religious belief. Where does our fall down the slippery slope end? It must be with a \u201cspecial class\u201d of kids who are \u201cright\u201d, and a second class set of kids who aren\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s not what schools are about. But it is what our schools are becoming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"