The Separation of Church and State

Working in the Education Industry, I hear the phrase Separation of Church and State thrown around a lot.  People are concerned about having the word or concept of God in the public schools.  With the holiday season quickly approaching, these issues are beginning to arise more in conversation.  I completely support the Separation of Church and State in education and completely support religious education in this country.  Any government funded school in the United States should be teaching about religion, the differences in practices, and how people are able to reconcile their differences to maintain a cohesive community.  Government funded schools should not in anyway be choosing one religious point of view over another through endorsing or prohibiting the practice of one person over another.  

It is important to know the difference between enforcing a person's religion and the steps to educate another person about religion while being open to communication and exploration.  The person who is chosen to education other people about religion or religions is given an incredible responsibility and gift.  This kind of education can be done in a lot of ways.  I haven't ever been a student enrolled at a school that was not funded in some way by the federal government.  I have always been educated by people who have been given the responsibility and opportunity to teach in multiple ways.  When religion is taught without an adherence to a specific belief, then it can be taught through the curriculum.  

Art projects are a main way that religion can be taught without enforcing one person's religion upon other people.  Art is often the precipice through which other forms of artistic expressions of religion are birthed.  Literature springs from art in a lot of ways.  Richard Crashaw's The Flaming Heart is a primary example of a work of literature being created from a sculpture combined with theology.  

 St. Therese had a vision of a cherub piercing her heart with an arrow in a mystic experience.  From her experience, artists, musicians, and lyricists created artwork from the point of her experience to our contemporary artisans.  Somehow, people think that the Separation of Church and State means that all religious experiences and mentioning of God has to be removed from education.  By removing God and religion, every part of the curriculum in every school, essentially, ceases to exist.  Literature, music, art, history, science, and even science is removed is there is a literal removal of religion and God from schools.  At some point, human beings, both accept and don't accept deities.  It is the responsibility of a civilized educational system to educate the students not only in what is accepted by the majority but what is accepted by the minority.  

Atheism also needs to be discussed in the educational environments as they are the locales intended for exploration.  Schools are not intended for indoctrination.  Having places where people are empowered to think about what they are interested in to include God and how people approach or do not approach a deity or deities is a means to provide for understanding and the acceptance of differences.  Misunderstanding the Separation of Church and State has caused more problems in educational environments than not.  The main way that this is misused is through contemporary evangelism.  

Evangelism is often as misunderstood as the Separation of Church and State.  To be an evangelist is to merely carry the Good News.  It doesn't presume a denominational or even a specific religious understanding.  Contemporary American understandings of evangelism are usually directly tied to specific fundamentalist denominations, even though the term fundamentalist is misunderstood as conservative, republican, and mainly, non-denominational or Southern Baptist.  Non-denominational is a actual denomination now, so I often find the attempt to say that it is okay to have a religious group in schools is okay because it is non-denominational to be a problem with the Separation of Church and State unto itself.  The problems with evangelism are not in the exposition of options.  The problems are inherent in enforcing one person's belief over another with the addition of negative consequences for not adhering to expressing belief through certain terms and conditions that are not mutually accepted.  

While people tend to think that it is a gamble to give people the right to talk about their religion or God in government funded facilities which causes them to want to ban the topic, it is a gamble.  The freedom of choice is often one of the most dangerous responsibilities that people have while taking ownership of their own humanity.  Often it is easier to hand over our freedom of choice to others instead of choosing to own of our decisions.  Perhaps, we understand our own choices as xenophobic because of the reaction of others around us.  Often, while wearing my kippah, people have found it necessary to ask about the difference between Jews and Christians or shout that the Jews killed Jesus at me.  I find the first one to be the most intrusive.  It usually ends with me saying that there isn't anything wrong with being Jewish after having said that it more than just a religion, but also a race, ethnicity, and culture.  This tends to bring the other person questioning me into a standpoint of wanting to know just about religion through which I say that the main difference is the accept of Jesus as the Messiah.  I almost had one person throw a fit when I said that it was personal choice that people made.  She couldn't handle it and when away in a huff because she was a churchian real believer in her model of Jesus.  Jesus fighting is not for believers.  Choice is! 

Maintaining the freedom of choice to choose Jesus or not is what actually makes Christianity Christian.  Without a choice, it isn't Christianity.  It is Churchianity.  If you a choice isn't inherent within a believer, then that person isn't a follower of Christ or an evangelist.  That person is a crusader for a firmly enforced cause.  There is no greater support from a nation for Christianity than the Separation of Church and State.  If the people are not free to choose, then Christianity is not an option.  

I hope to hear people singing about dreidels and Christmas trees.  I want to hear about Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and feel the tinkle of sleigh bells in the air during the upcoming holiday seasons.  Perhaps, this year, we will all try to remember that, in the midst of making presents ready, that deities are usually about bringing peace to all people.  I know that while I will be light candles at Hanukkah, Christmas, and the New Year to carry the light of God through the winter season, I will be remembering that it is through living in the light of God that we shine for one another. 

Let go in peace through the month of October.  May be embrace the Autumn season as the weather changes and the rains begin.  Let us walk in love as we choose to be beacons of light in the world.