I will never forget a sad exchange I had with a third grade student years ago. I was helping her edit her writers journal. The picture she drew above her words was a persons face in the sky above her home. A figure I realized was God as I began to read her short paragraph.
She asked in her journal, "Is God real? Sometimes I think he is but I think people will say I'm foolish. I think He must be watching me but I don't know. I want to ask an adult about Him but I think I will get in trouble."
My heart ached as I read the words aloud. She watched me intently and the expression on her face caused me to fight back a tear. I sensed that she had written the words knowing I would edit her paper and hopeful that I would answer her question.
The very mention of God in the classroom had become so taboo that teachers feared the loss of their jobs if they respond in any way to such questions. Children perceive the fear (or with some teachers, disgust) their teachers have at the mention of God and it confuses them.
I looked at this dear sweet girl and tenderly told her that I believed God is there, that he watches over us all and loves us, and told her that she should never feel foolish to believe in God or be afraid that her questions would get her in trouble.
To those in authority at that school I had probably committed the ultimate crime but the relief and peace in this young child's face reassured me that I had done the right thing!
Today I watched The O'Reilly Factor this evening and heard a story of a young girl who had the report of her Grandfathers prayers in Vietnam censored by educators who believe that any identification of religious thought expressed in public in any way is unconstitutional.
The very mention of God or religion in any school lesson, student report, or student expression is being suppressed. Not only is such interpretation of the constitution ludicrous it sharply weakens our children's education.
The suppression of religious thought in our public schools is devastating to our children's healthy development. A healthy exposure to the foundational principles of society for thousands of years connects them to generations of the past. God is found in every era of history and particularly woven into every step taken by pilgrims feet and pioneers. To teach history, government, and literature with no mention of God or religion and the profound impact it has had on the human history is to teach lies.
Our children know they are being lied to, they know their teachers are hiding important learning from them, and they are hurt and confused by it! They see the fear (or disgust) in their teachers demeanor when a student mentions God in class and the reaction is distressing. Those children who are taught in their homes to believe feel oppressed in this environment and they learn to sensor their thoughts and words.
Is this freedom in education, does this foster the free thought of the student, and the intelligent discussion? No! This is tyranny!
We must jettison this destructive agenda to eliminate God from the classrooms of our nation and rewrite the history of our past. If we are to restore the education that was responsible for the great ages of thought and literature, the ideas that enlightened generations of leaders and freedom fighters, and provided an unwavering moral compass to the greatest generation who liberated the world from tyranny we must rescue our children from the tyranny of those who push "freedom from religion"!
