In my last column, I addressed a Missouri House vote allowing students to hold private prayers by students in public school. I stated that parents opposing this legislation are scared that their children would be exposed to other ideas, but a recent Philadelphia ruling is the epitome of the fear that runs in the veins of parents-that children may be exposed to a set of beliefs. According to a June Post-Dispatch article in the Talk of The Day online section, a mother of a child in a Philadelphia kindergarten read a passage from the Bible about him during her son's show-and-tell which caused stir among some parents. Little did she think her action would provoke the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to confront her reading material. "The Marple Newtown School District in suburban Philadelphia told Plaintiff Donna Kay Busch in October 2004 that she could not read the Bible passages during her son's 'All About Me' program," according to an MSNBC-Philadelphia. The court upheld that decision. The point of this show-and-tell was to allow parents to bring something of importance to their children. This mother decided to read the Bible. She could have brought a Qur'an, the Torah, or "Twilight," and the school should not have forbidden her to do so (well, maybe Twilight). The point is that schools should not control that which has a special significance to the child. Since when did it become an issue when a student wants to share his views on religion? Since when does showing devotion to a religion become dangerous to the freedom of diversity we have in this country? The Constitution grants the free exercise of religion. It also protects the separation of church and state. Discussing your religion openly with your classmates should be protected by the First Amendment, and is definitively not endangering the Second. Everyone should be able to share what is important to them. This is not preaching. If a school creates a space where a student can bring something significant to them, it should not matter whether it is a Bible, a Qur'an or Pokemon cards. What we have the desire to share based on its significance to our lives should not be controlled by the government. The proper way to create religious diversity is not by repressing everyone's religious beliefs, but by allowing for the freedom we all have to share, listen or ignore faith.
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