Church and State

Just this week I read a post on the infamous Facebook that, to sum it up, blamed all the crisis going on in our country, namely the racial uprising, on taking God out of the schools. The ol’ separation of church and state issue that’s been going on for decades.  This whole posting did nothing but make me angry!  It certainly displayed ignorance on the part of the writer!

Any educator in a public school, or most of them anyhow, will attest that God is alive and well in our school systems. As an educator I saw Him every day, and even though I’ve been retired for a decade, I know He still is there. He is there in the classroom every minute of every day holding that teacher together as he or she faces a room of children of any age. Some days that classroom feels like a battlefield, but God is there. He is there in the hallways in the smiling faces of students and staff. He is there in the lunchroom as the lunch personnel serve nourishing meals to students that might not get another meal until tomorrow. He is there in the music and art departments as students learn to raise their voices in song or become more creative.  God is there in the special education classes as even one student finally has that “aha” moment, and is rewarded by a hug or a smile by a very caring teacher, who might go home cry because he or she had a day that made them feel like teaching their students was hopeless. But, they will rise and shine and do it all over again tomorrow. God is on the athletic fields helping make winners and silently cheering teams towards victory.  

Prayer might not be vocal, but I know and have seen students pray silently before tests, before lunch, and before a game. I have also seen Fellowship of Christian Athletes in action doing their good works.

When I was in school, a long time ago, we had a bible class. We met at an outbuilding, at the corner of the school grounds once a week for a bible lesson, and singing. For some it was the highlight of their week. For some it was the only religious training they received. Most students were church goers, and definitely WASPS with a few Roman Catholics in the mix. They didn’t attend the bible class and they are why we always had fish on Fridays for lunch!! Until I reached Jr. High, we even had prayer in the classroom before lunch!!

I believe in the separation of church and state law. Not because God has no place in the schools, but because of the mix of faiths present in today’s public schools. Yes, we have atheists, and agnostics. We have not only Protestants and Catholics, but now we have Jews, Muslims, and even a few Buddha students right here on our public school campuses. How do we differentiate without showing favor to one and not another? We can’t, so that is where the law comes in. I think the government saw this coming, and prepared the way, much to the consternation of many.

Those who really believe that God (our God or someone else’s) is not present in public schools just needs to walk the halls with open eyes and heart and mind. They might just see some evidence that what they’ve believed for so long just might be wrong.