Religion Does Not Belong In School

Every morning throughout middle school, I stood up to face the United States flag and pledge my allegiance to it. Thousands of elementary and middle school students did the same. They diligently repeat the pledge every day, and each time believe the message more than the last. However, what might seem like a proud patriotic declaration engraves into children an idea which goes against the fundamentals upon which their country was founded. This idea in conveyed in the statement “in God we trust,” which has nothing to do with declaring one’s loyalty to their country. Instead, it introduces religion to schools, a place it doesn’t belong. It is so stated in the United States Constitution and must be viewed as such if equality and peace are to flourish.

            The first amendment of the United States Constitution mandates the separation of church and state, and because of this, public schools are not allowed to preach religion to students. Not imposing religion on students important because the United States is a diverse country where many different religions are practiced. If schools chose to include religion in their pupils’ curriculum, which one would they choose? The cannot make that decision because it is also stated in the first amendment that one religion cannot be favored over another and that no one religion can be declared as the official one that all people must follow. School is a place where students are supposed to grow and embrace their uniqueness so that they can each add something different to society. Forcing them to abide by the morals of a religion that is not their own will extinguish their self-confidence and sense of self, not to mention students who are atheists. It is immoral to push onto people a belief they don’t stand by; After all, the freedom of religion is one of the fundamental human rights in the United States.

Aside from being stripped of their rights, the students who do not preach the religion taught will be ostracized by their peers. Imagine being ridiculed, isolated and possibly facing verbal or physical abuse from the people who are supposed to be your friends, just for believing in something different from them. This rejection can lead to stress and hiding one’s true beliefs to fit in. Children who grow up thinking that their group of people are superior will turn into hateful adults and pass this ideology to their children. Hateful people would digress the country, and destroy all efforts of achieving equality made by people thus far.

The United States is a country where every person has the freedom of pursuit of happiness, life, and liberty. We are free to express our opinions and to disagree and to strive for change. Let’s look at what our founding fathers taught us, and see how we can use those lessons to better life for future generations. Religion in schools will shape provincial children. They will disparage anyone who does not think the same as them. We should instead teach them to be all-loving and to respect other people’s beliefs, including their religion before we end up in a dystopian nightmare.