Gods and Parents

In my corner of the world, the wall between church and state is pretty flimsy. Our schools still have Christmas concerts, and it's not unusual for school officials to offer a little Jesus prayer before a public event, despite a couple of high profile lawsuits in the region, brought by students who didn't want a Christian prayer at graduation (and who were vilified by many in the community after siccing the ACLU on local officials). 

So it was no surprise to pick up my newspaper earlier this week and find a whole front page story about a Bible club at a local high school, complete with a picture of the teacher-advisor of the club praying with a student in a classroom "during a break in classes." That may be as much a feature of a newspaper photographer asking "Can I get a picture right now" as the regular conduct of Bible business during the school day. But what I found even more striking was the part about a prayer locker--the school has given the Bible club a few lockers to paint and use as a place for students to drop prayer requests. Afterschool use of school facilities for club meetings is one thing; the contribution of school resources, however small, is another. Wonder what would happen if students went to the administration and demanded a Hindu locker or an atheist locker or a Satanic locker.

Again, none of this is a shock or a surprise, but times being what they are, I wondered-- do members of the Bible club have to get permission slips from their parents? Is the school required to notify parents that their child is involved in a religious activity? 

I remember years ago a Jewish student talking about the elementary teacher who tried to convince her of the error of her ways. She wasn't swayed, but what if she had been? Would the school have been required to report her change of heart? 

We're not just talking about atheists or non-Christians. What if a Catholic student decided to join a Baptist Bible study, or vice versa? 

And there's the Satanic Temple, which never tires of getting federal courts to rule that, yes, if your school allows an after-school Christian club, it has to allows a Satan Club, too. If your child decides to join that club, should the school let you know?

The interface between public school and private religion is always fraught. Here's another story: Girl gets caught sneaking out, and her angry religious (non-Christian) father shaves her head. Sends her to school and instructs the school that she is not to be allowed to put on a hat to lessen her public shaming, because it's a faith and obedience thing. What should the school do?

Let's try something easier. Consider these two scenarios:

Sam is raised in an atheist home, but Sam decides to join a Christian Bible and Worship Club after school.

Pat is raised in a church-going home, but Pat decides to join an after-school Satan Club.

Should parents be told? Should the child be free to join whatever club they like, and it's up to them to communicate with parents or not? Is your answer the same for both, or is your answer that Sam's parents shouldn't be allowed to stand in the path of Sam's salvation, but Pat's parents need to get involved. If so, can you explain why the public school should subordinated to a particular faith?

There are a couple of issues in play here. One is the issue of having a public school pick sides in religious debates. Texas has decided to stick the Ten Commandments in classrooms, and the legislators involved don't seem to understand the implications of this. That includes not realizing that there is not a single agreed-upon version of the Ten Commandments; right off the bat, Texas school officials (or the legislature) will have to decide which church's version gets posted. 

The Christian church has not gone more than fifteen minutes in two millennia without having a debate about one thing or another; historically these debates have been settled either by schism or violence or both. It's unclear how injecting government into the equation.

The other issue at play is the rights of the students themselves. There is no way for schools to keep this kind of information secret if the student wants to tell their parents. 

Do students have the right to keep secrets from their parents? Plenty of religious folks seem to believe the answer is no, never ever. And there are folks who will argue that their children are their property (how their property is going to transition to a functioning independent adult is unclear). I'd argue that any policy that safeguards teacher or parental rights at the expense of student rights is problematic. 

So should students have a free hand to explore their religious options in school? Should parents be looped in to all such decisions? Should religion be strictly left to the home, with schools not getting involved at all? 

It's a complicated conversation, and unfortunately far too many people are skipping it entirely and going straight to "Anything that promotes Christianity is good and should be allowed to just roll on unhampered in any way." That's not a real answer, and no serious school administration should allow it to stand as an answer, and thoughtful people of faith shouldn't accept it either. Otherwise we get closer to a place where your local school board decides whether your church is real enough to qualify for district benefits, and I'm pretty sure that's a place none of us want to be.