1. Okay. So the whole Weekly Religious Education Program has reared it's ugly head again in the papers. And this time I am not involved. Glory be. 😉
2. For those of you who don't know, our local PUBLIC schools are involved in this program, which busses children to a local church for a healthy dose of their form of Christianity. A few years ago, I took them to task in my column. The backlash wasn't pretty. I'm still dealing with it and this happened what…6 or 7 years ago.
3. Here's the thing: at Westwood, where my girls go to school, it's really not a problem for them because they are given extra things to do while the other kids go off on the Bible bus. That gives my kids an edge. For me, school should be about academics, not religion.
4. In some ways, I feel like I failed my community with this issue. When the ACLU contacted me and asked me to be involved in a law suit, I said no. Maybe I should have said yes. But did I want that kind of pressure for my family? In this community? I couldn't do it. It still dogs me. But I haven't given up.
5. For the record I am NOT an anti-Christian. I'm not coming at this issue from an anti-Christian perspective. (I have a lot of respect for real Christians–and am blessed by having many of them in my life.) My stance is a pro-child, pro-education perspective. What child in the first or second grade wants to make a public stance over their religious differences? What can a child say when another child tells them they will burn in hell for not being Christian? Why should this even BE an issue at SCHOOL? I am all for religious education. But if it's told from one perspective, which leaves out every other form of religion, that is not education.
