Religious Education in the Virginia Public Schools

Abstract

Considering that the control and support of the schools are becoming more and more centralized and that the local community is fast losing control and responsibility for the support and administration of the local school, this makes the question of religious education more serious. In a small community there might not be any serious objection to the Protestants teaching the Bible in the public school, if the local community was soley responsible for the local school, and there were no Jews or Catholics in tl:e comrnunity. But today with the state greatly gaining in power over the local school and funds from rich areas being sent to poor ones to bring education up to a standard, then we must realize that more than one religious sect will be involved. . . . In view of what our forefathers suffered because of State and Church relationship, we do not believe that the American people, wish a union of the State and the Church. Yet in our zeal for the cause of religion, which is so dear to us American people, we tread on ground which leads very close to the outer realm of that which is ideal religious freedom. We are setting our own religious trap. No teacher of any religious sect or denomination, who has anything basically worth while to say, can serve satisfactorily as common denominator for all. [From Conclusion]