Religion in Schools

I do not remember a time in my life where religion in schools was not a hot topic. Even as a small child growing up on military bases, I was aware of religious differences between my classmates. I also remember my teacher telling us that she had to tell us about some holiday (I have very few memories from my early childhood and the ones I have are quite foggy, so I don't remember which holiday or from which religion) in order to tell us about Christmas. Of course I also remember that seeming odd.

Flash forward to middle school earth science. My teacher is telling us about evolution and refers to it repeatedly as proven fact. On the quiz I comment that, from what I understand, it's a theory, not a proven fact, and I receive a poor grade.

Ultimately, both situations were uncomfortable for me. Now as a teacher, I'm finding that it's uncomfortable on both sides of the desk. In English, we talk about Biblical allusions, but I can't share my personal beliefs. We read Native American creation stories, and I feel this odd need to validate them and even reduce my own beliefs to the "myth" genre. Should religion be taught in schools? Not really - not in any persuasive manner at least. Should religion be present in schools? Yes - and I would hope that it is.

As a Christian, I try to engage in respectful, conversations with people (adults, not my students) of other faiths in order to learn. At school, I see students start conversations about religion and immediately feel that they have to change the topic before their teacher hears. It's hard to see students nervous to engage in religious discussions. It's also hard to see teachers shut down religious discussions. And even harder to see students make light of other students' religions. As a teacher I step in to stop it, but just stopping an instance won't stop the problem.

If separation of church and state means that religion is not to show up in public schools at all, then the lines need to be drawn more deeply in the sand. I personally do not think that should happen. I enjoy the debate, the discussions, the discourse. I want my students to learn how to respectfully discuss these things. I want to be able to talk about what I believe. Right now, I bite my tongue. And for now, I guess that will do. If it ever becomes unbearable, there are plenty of Christian schools around I suppose.