Can anyone tell me why this is a bad idea? ...Anyone?
Okay, well please let me educate you, then. Let's start from the beginning. We need to establish prior knowledge before we learn something new, right? So how many religions are practiced in the US? According to this article on religioustolerance.org, it's impossible to state an accurate number. This article, found on undergod.procon.org, on the other hand, chose 313 religions (1-35 constituting different Christian denominations). Think about that for a moment. Three hundred and thirteen different religions practiced in the US, and thirty-five of those are classified under the umbrella term of Christian. That's a lot of faiths! In fact, religioustolerance.org states,
"The total number of faith groups in the U.S. cannot be calculated. The value depends upon exactly how one defines "faith group" or "religion." Perhaps we can say that every person's religion is, to some degree, unique. Thus there are over 200 million religions in the U.S."
Now, the first article, found on religioustolerance.org, estimated that 76.5% of American adults identify as Christian in some form or another. So roughly three quarters of the US adult population is Christian. If you are Christian, you definitely hold the majority. Congratulations. Let me remind you that it is Christians who are sharing the above meme. What many Christians are forgetting (or maybe they're not) is that there's another quarter of the US population out there that doesn't necessarily agree with them and they have the right to religious freedom just as much as all the Christians.
As a Pagan (or Neo-Pagan), if I went in to my future job as a teacher in a middle school and started teaching my faith to my students, as if it was fact, and as if it was the only spirituality available to them, the majority of my students' parents would be furious. I can see them now, storming the principal's office, expressing their outrage, and demanding my immediate termination. And, honestly, they would have every right to do so.
There is no place for explicit spiritual education in public schools. If you wish for your child to be educated in, around, and submerged by your religious values and beliefs, send your child to a private religious school. There are plenty of religious schools to be found, and many of them offer scholarships and financial aid of varying degrees.
So if you feel that strongly about your child's spiritual education, send him to a school where he can be educated in math and language arts as well as in the Bible and Jesus Christ, by all means. But don't sit at your keyboard and your computer screen ignorantly yelling about public school going to Hell unless we bring God back into the classroom, because as soon as you invite your God into the public classroom, all of mine get to come along, too.
