Religion in Schools: Offensive at Best, Unconstitutional at Worst

A statue outside the Marist Chapel. Photo by Caleb Tysz '26

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” is the first line in the First Amendment of our U.S. Constitution. 

The state of Texas is considering incorporating a religion-based educational curriculum in its public elementary schools, Louisiana tried to require teachers to display the Ten Commandments for students to learn and Oklahoma now requires its teachers to teach the Bible. Many conservative-leaning states are pushing for even more. 

These three instances indicate a larger problem: conservative lawmakers are pushing to blur the line between church and state at the expense of anyone who isn’t Christian. To ask a Muslim student to abide by the Christian Ten Commandments is offensive at best and unconstitutional at worst. 

The precedent for keeping religion out of schools is relatively young. In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled on Engel v. Vitale, a case involving the State of New York holding a non-denominational prayer every morning.

“There can, of course, be no doubt that New York's program of daily classroom invocation of God's blessings as prescribed in the Regents' prayer is a religious activity. It is a solemn avowal of divine faith and supplication for the blessings of the Almighty. The nature of such a prayer has always been religious,” was the ruling of Justice Black, stating the court’s opinion that a prayer in a public school was unconstitutional. So, how is it that the courts now think teaching the golden rule through the sermon on the mount is different from a prayer?

This case has been a precedent for many cases in the past, upholding the barrier between church and state. There is no legitimate reason why this precedent should change, especially for instances as directly applicable to the ruling as the ones our country faces today. The issues being pushed directly countermand the precedent set by Engel. They are blatant attempts at setting up Christianity as this country’s official religion, and they should be struck down as unconstitutional. 

The most obvious flaw of this initiative is not considering our nation’s most important aspect: its diversity. While Christianity undoubtedly makes up a significant percentage of our nation’s religious potpourri, it is just that: a percentage. To willfully exclude other religions is a disservice to the rest of the nation. 

School should be a place for secular knowledge, not religion. If a history class includes a section on the Bible, it should also focus on other religious texts present in the world’s history, such as the Torah or the Quran. Ignorance benefits nobody, and if lawmakers are arguing for an increase in religious education, they must be willing to accept the education of other religions. 

I went to Sunday school every week for the majority of my life. I would be a hypocrite if I said that religious schooling benefits no one. But it doesn’t belong in a school; it belongs in a church, where people have the choice to attend or the choice to send their kids to learn.