Does God Belong in Public Schools?

Kent Greenawalt (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

272 Seiten

2005
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-12111-6 (ISBN)

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Controversial Supreme Court decisions have barred organized school prayer, but neither the Court nor public policy exclude religion from schools altogether. In this book, one of America's leading constitutional scholars asks what role religion ought to play in public schools. Kent Greenawalt explores many of the most divisive issues in educational debate, including teaching about the origins of life, sex education, and when - or whether - students can opt out of school activities for religious reasons. Using these and other case studies, Greenawalt considers how to balance the country's constitutional commitment to personal freedoms and to the separation of church and state with the vital role that religion has always played in American society. Do we risk distorting students' understanding of America's past and present by ignoring religion in public-school curricula? When does teaching about religion cross the line into the promotion of religion?
Tracing the historical development of religion within public schools and considering every major Supreme Court case, Greenawalt concludes that the bans on school prayer and the teaching of creationism are justified, and that the court should more closely examine such activities as the singing of religious songs and student papers on religious topics. He also argues that students ought to be taught more about religion - both its contributions and shortcomings - especially in courses in history. To do otherwise, he writes, is to present a seriously distorted picture of society and indirectly to be other than neutral in presenting secularism and religion. Written with exemplary clarity and even-handedness, this is a major book about some of the most pressing and contentious issues in educational policy and constitutional law today.

Kent Greenawalt is University Professor teaching at the Columbia University School of Law, and a former Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. He is the author of "Religious Convictions and Political Choice, Private Consciences and Public Reasons", "Fighting Words" (Princeton), and "Religion and the Constitution: Volume 1: Free Exercise and Fairness" (also Princeton).

Preface ix Introduction 1 PART I: HISTORY AND PURPOSES 11 CHAPTER 1: A Brief History of American Public Schools and Religion 13 CHAPTER 2: Purposes of Public School Education 23 PART II: DEVOTIONS, CLUBS, AND TEACHING RELIGION AS TRUE 35 CHAPTER 3: Devotional Practices: Prayer and Bible Reading 37 CHAPTER 4: Moments of Silence 58 CHAPTER 5: Teaching Religious Propositions 64 CHAPTER 6: Equal Facilities 69 PART III: TEACHING ABOUT RELIGION 77 CHAPTER 7: Teaching and Religion in the Public School 79 CHAPTER 8: Teaching Natural Science I: Relation between Science and Religion 88 CHAPTER 9: Teaching Natural Science II: Evolutionism, Creationism, and Intelligent Design 101 CHAPTER 10: Teaching Natural Science III: What Amounts to Teaching Religion? 116 CHAPTER 11: History, Economics, and Literature 126 CHAPTER 12: Morals, Civics, and Comparative Religion 138 CHAPTER 13: Constitutional Constraints and Other Legal Limits 152 PART IV: RIGHTS OF STUDENTS 161 CHAPTER 14: Student Rights to Religious Freedom and to Free Speech on Religious Topics 163 CHAPTER 15: Excusing Students When They or Their Parents Object 174 Notes 189 Index 257

Erscheint lt. Verlag	2.1.2005
Verlagsort	New Jersey
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 235 mm
Gewicht	510 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Bildungstheorie
ISBN-10	0-691-12111-7 / 0691121117
ISBN-13	978-0-691-12111-6 / 9780691121116
Zustand	Neuware