Sunday, November 10, 2013

To Teach Or Not to Teach

In Volusia County, FL, there have been protests by right winged residents over what the groups argue to be an unfair balance between Islam and Christianity in school texts books.  The protesters contend that the two volume world history textbook series devotes an unequal amount of pages describing the foundation of Islam.  The school contends the page count is necessary in order to allow for a greater understanding of its cultural impact in the Middle East.  The groups have been demanding the school provide replacement textbooks that devote a proportional amount of pages for both Christianity and Islam.  “Critics say the 1,000-page book devoted too many pages to the rise of Islam without providing equal coverage to Christianity. One Lake County activist suggested patriotic schoolchildren should be encouraged to rip out the 32-page chapter on Islam, though he later recanted his position.”  The school contended that the reasoning behind the unequal coverage was simply a matter of chronology. “Because Mohammed, the founder of Islam, wasn’t born until about 570 A.D., the chapter on Muslim civilizations is found in the second book. By the time Volusia County students read about him, they’ve already learned about the rise of Christianity in the sixth grade.”  The school is not backing down and pledged to continue covering all major religions that “help us understand the modern world”.  With the debate continuing to heat up, some individuals, who champion the inherently secular nature of public school’s, argue that religion should not be taught in school.  These individuals will denounce the schools approach of using religion as a tool to develop a greater understanding of the world.  



In this particular case, the court will eventually struggle with the question of whether or not Volusia County is violating an aspect of the Establishment Clause. More specifically, is the County showing preference to one religion over the other (Islam v. Christianity, Judaism, etc), or is the County unlawfully adding religious curriculum into its public schools.  In the first argument, the school would have to prove a secular purpose of devoting more material covering the religion of Islam.  This would be a requirement in order to pass the Lemon test which may or may not be convincing enough to some.  On the other hand, the school may be challenged by the law to take all religion out of its curriculum.  The landmark case Epperson v. Arkansas paved the way for secular public schools.  Molleen Matsumura fromThe National Center for Science Education makes an excellence point regarding the famous case; “...the U.S. Constitution does not permit a state to require that teaching and learning must be tailored to the principles or prohibitions of any particular religious sect or doctrine.”  This principle could likely be applied to the Volusia County Public School system.  In short, if no secular purpose is legitimately contended, the district needs to prescribe to the law which would either provide for a balanced approach toward the implication of religious curriculum or it needs to ban it all together.

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this case, like a plethora of others, will help mold the future for public schools in the United States. I believe this case helps discover the attitudes toward the secular nature of public schools as well as aid in the understanding of the social shift in our country.  In addition, this particular case may serve as an example of how religiously motivated controversy could lead to protest.  The article specifically cites that attempts at holding meetings have been futile due to the serious potential for violence.  It may be time for public schools, of all regions, to realize that without religion in the schools there may be a decreased potential for vicious debate.  It goes without question that the schools willingness to teach religion in schools lead to the protests and likely a change in curriculum.  I feel that the religion in public schools, especially K-12, should take religion out of its textbooks (curriculum) in order to remain secular and to avoid social consequences.  More specifically, this change could prevent unintentional indoctrination, social pressure, and violent protest.  With social issues aside, I will even go as far as to contend that the constitution argued for a strict separation and that there is not justifiable secular purpose to teach any form of religion in public schools.  I also fundamentally disagree with the focus of the article covering the debate in Volusia County.  I feel the author brought in politics by slamming the “conservatives”  for being anti-muslim and or radical Christians.  I feel the politics in the public school debate plays too much of a role.  I feel that this debate should transcend political ideology and instead focus on the fact that the public school system is generally an extension of the state.  The same state that is apart of the infamous quote; “separation of church and state.  

After reading, do you feel that Volusia County needs to be fair and balanced with its incorporation of religion in textbooks or do you think the County needs to take religion out of their textbooks and classrooms? 

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