Religion & American Law

            Within our class we have discussed whether religion should have a place in the public classroom.  Even after a history of legal cases and public debates, our society still is tackling this question.  Recently, Florida has passed a bill that would allow “inspirational messages” to be read by students during events sponsored by the public school.  For many, this broad statement is a mask to endorse prayer or religious messages to be said at school events why some are arguing that it is only meant to protect heart felt messages to be said to the crowd.  Though this bill has yet to go into effect, there are already threats of lawsuits in limiting what form these inspirational messages will take.

            This bill is one that has many implications attached to it.  Throughout the history that we have seen, it was the student whose ability to practice their religious beliefs was protected.  This bill extends a protection to those practices while defining their religious practices as inspirational messages.  Again,  we see the entanglement that occurs when religion and the student is examined.  One cannot inhibit their practices but this bill extends a forum by which these practices can become public.  For example, a student can choose to open an event with a prayer.  This example has many other factors though.  Is the school only choosing students who are inclined to say a particular type of prayer?  What will happen if the student chooses to pray to Allah?  Will the school define inspirational messages in a way that only particular religions will apply?  Such questions demonstrate that such a broad term can truly harm the religious freedom of the student.  Also, as one watches the events that unfold with this bill, one may see the students religious practices come into question.  This bill begins to intertwine the place of the school and the students beliefs in a way that endorsement is possible to happen.  Additionally, such a thing can be dangerous because if endorsement occurs then a question of a place for the student’s religious beliefs in the school can occur.

            When tackling this bill with my opinion, I find that this bill can be dangerous.  The questions that I posed earlier play in my mind around this bill.  I also believe it can be a dangerous game when the students are given the freedom to choose the inspirational message at these events.  I say this not because I am against the free speech of a student but because now that speech is becoming endorsed by the state.  Such a bill brings into question the student’s right to free speech and I fear that some are using this to mask an attempt to bring into the school religious messages.  I also wonder if these messages will need to be reviewed by the school before they are delivered.  This could lead to a type of control that I consider dangerous because it ascribes power to the school to define what can and cannot be considered inspirational.  I believe there are implications to this bill that some have not thought through.  I believe we begin to play a dangerous game when we use students and their rights as a method of propagating a particular message in the public school.  In the end, I believe the we will see how the rights of students and their religious expression will come into question with implementation of this new bill.