Blog

Excellent News About Religious Liberties in Our Nation’s Schools

Rock Hill, SC, January 19, 2020

This (Sunday) morning seemed like a good time for this particular update. I have some excellent news about efforts to protect religious liberties in our nation’s schools.

Last week, President Trump issued an executive order that provides public schools with guidance on prayer and other forms of religious expression. Among other things, this order explicitly states that students may pray or study religious materials – if they choose to do so – during non-instructional times like recess or lunch period.

This order also states that if students choose to organize prayer groups or religious gatherings, the school may not treat those groups any differently than other non-religious extracurricular groups at the school.

So why was this executive order needed?

Well, over the last 10-15 years, there’s been a steady stream of schools and districts across the nation that have sought to limit religious expression by students. Their pretext is usually something like, “Some students might feel offended or uncomfortable with prayer or religious expressions, so it’s better if those aren’t allowed in school.”

Frankly, I’m offended that any student would be required to check his/her religious liberties at the door.

It doesn’t matter whether students are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc., public schools that receive federal funding should not prohibit those students from prayer or other forms of religious expression. Particularly during non-instructional time.