Even after the U.S. Supreme Court deemed the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional due to the phrase "under God" in 2002, the role of religion in schools is still widely debated.
In a discussion entitled "God and Grade School: Is There a Role for Religion in Education?" a panel of four professors from area universities shared their views on the topic in Stiteler Hall on Friday.
Drexel University Political Science professor William Rosenberg, Villanova University professor of Education and Human Services Deborah Schussler and St. Joseph's University professor of Philosophy James Boettcher and Dean of Graduate and Continuing Studies Robert Palestini led the discussion. Wharton Undergraduate Division Senior Associate Director Beth Hagovsky served as the moderator.
The professors argued their viewpoints using a number of different techniques. Rosenberg began the discussion with a personal anecdote and recalled his own experience as a Jewish boy in the classroom.
Every morning, while the rest of the children would recite the Bible after the teacher, he uttered Jewish prayers. Eventually, he was sent to the principal for disrupting the class. This incident was one of the factors that shaped Rosenberg's view against the inclusion of religion in the classroom.
Schussler took another approach. "I feel that 'Should religion be included in schools?' is not the question to be asked," she said. "We should be asking, 'Why do we want religion to be included [in schools]? Why do we want something that the Constitution is against infusing?'" she asked.
She argued that schools wanted to include religion in the curriculum to infuse morals to prevent situations like the Columbine shooting. She added, however, that merely posting the Ten Commandments is not enough.
"They want to post the Ten Commandments because it's a quick fix to solve the problems. They feel they have done something to include morals in our schools," Schussler said.
After eight minutes of hearing the arguments against including religion in schools, the audience heard the other side. Boettcher advocated the policy of secularism over favoring a particular religion. He argued that by not allowing religious freedom in schools, the government was "disfavoring," or not maintaining neutrality on religion.
The last panelist, Palestini, advocated a holistic approach to the issue. He outlined three methods to remedy the situation -- instituting an "undesignated" moment of silence, teaching the values of various religions and providing equal access to school facilities for religious and nonreligious groups.
The undesignated moment of silence "is not to bring people to pray, necessarily," Palestini said. "The reason to have it is to demonstrate that schools are not 'areligious.'"
The different modes of argument used by the professors helped spur the interest of audience members.
"I was impressed with the diversity in the issues," said Recruiting Coordinator for Penn Forum and College junior Carrie Greene. "I didn't expect that much diversity in the methods that they used to explain their view and the variety in the opinion. It was more informal. Beth [Hagovsky] permitted the panelists to talk to each other."
Though some audience members had strong opinions on the issue, most were willing to hear the other side.
"I'm personally a supporter of the separation between church and state. But basically, [in this discussion], I want to see the arguments for it, to see the other side," Wharton freshman Brett Thalmann said.
The event attracted approximately 15 students and community members interested in the topic and was co-sponsored by Penn Forum and the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program.
