Weekly Religious Education in the Public Schools

This column ran in 2004 in the Daily News Leader, Staunton, Va., but I own the right to this and any of my columns. I still get phone calls and email messages about this column. After it was published, I was threatened, called every name under the sun, and lost some “friends.” One of the most revealing things that happened was all of the supportive emails and calls I received—but almost all of them said they would not go public with their stand. I’m running it here because the issue has cropped up again in the Daily News Leader and I’ve gotten several requests to see it.

Thoroughly Modern Mollie

We just registered Emma to attend kindergarten next fall. We have thought about private schools, but decided we would try the public school and if it does not work out, we know know we have a few options. I have always believed that education is what you make it and that what happens at home is just as important as what happens at school. But I do fret about possible bad influences, as well as the Standards of Learning and the Weekly Religious Education Program.

I am not sure I know enough about the SOLs to give an educated opinion about them; but I do know that I will learn a great deal about them over the next year. Many teachers I know don’t like the SOLS, and from what I understand, it’s because they take the creativity and individuality out of teaching. One teacher I know said,’You have to teach to the standards, not to the child.”

That is worrisome.

Given all the pressure on Virginia’s teachers now, I wonder what they really think of the Weekly Religious Education program in Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County Schools. (Just in case you don’t know about this, our public school students are taken off campus once a week and given a dose of Christianity.) Constitutional issues aside, it seems to me like an enormous waste of time.

For that hour or so a week, our kids could be learning something educational, not getting religion, which after all should be a family matter.

A number of Waynesboro parents that I know are very concerned about the WRE.

Many of our kids are not in school yet, but they will be soon. I have tried, with the help of Ed Piper, the minister of my church (the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Waynesboro) to organize a community forum in which all of the community’s concern about the WRE could be aired. We have invited the president of the WRE to attend such a gathering. I tried to get her to agree to a date, place, and time to no avail. So, we will probably have one without them, regrettably.

Religion in the public schools is a hot issue to be sure – one that the WRE slides out of by claiming that it is elective. That logic doesn’t hold true for several reasons. I have heard troubling stories from parents detailing things like the pressure their children (second-third, and fourth graders) feel about attending WRE. That pressure comes from both peers and teachers.

I have also heard that kids come home in tears saying they are going to “go to hell” if they don’t attend these classes. (Is this something we want little ones to worry about?)

Another source I have, who worked in the schools, says that the WRE is a joke; the children run wild during that time and nobody is learning a thing.

Great.

Another story I heard made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. A woman I know called the school to ask about WRE. She asked the teacher, “Is it religious education or is it Christian education?”

“I don’t understand the question,” the teacher responded.

Is this the person who will be EDUCATING our children?

It is a dangerous path in today’s world to think there is only one way to believe, to have a connection with Spirit, and Only One way for salvation.

And it is more dangerous to inculcate our children into that way of thinking. This has nothing to do with political correctness, but everything to do with reality. Our world is getting smaller, our children’s worlds will be even smaller, and we need to help them open their hearts to others belief systems – not to change the way they or we believe, necessarily, but to respect others feelings, religions and cultures. It will be imperative to them as they make their way through our blessedly diverse world.

I understand that there is a concern that some of these children may not be getting religion at home. I say exposure or nonexposure to religion is up to parents. Period. If a child is having problems with morality or character or whatever, we have highly qualified guidance counselors who can step in.

I also say that this is certainly a school (and therefore Constitutional) issue. Our children are taken FROM THE SCHOOL. And , the thing that bothers me more than anything is that we are asking our kids to make a public choice-with all of the stigma that is associated with it.

Children should not have to choose a religious preference in front of school mates. Let’s not use religion as a way of dividing our children.