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A bad move
The School Board has deferred action on a request for non-denominational Christian education to be offered during school time in a “rolling chapel” near school property.
Board member Paul Nichols urged that the request be denied, and his motion was supported by Bryant Lee. Chairman Beverly Massie voted against the motion for denial, and Nancy Reeve and Bill Oliver abstained.
We feel that the School Board should reject the request.
This is an emotional issue which involves the constitutional separation of church and state. The debate is fraught with outspoken opinions and fervent beliefs on both sides. For years it has been a philosophical and religious question which has yet to be conclusively settled.
It appears to us that the disadvantages of approving such a program in the Rappahannock County schools far outweigh its advantages.
There are numerous questions, aside from its legality.
Though the instruction is presented as “nondenominational,” what church is it affiliated with? The bias of that particular religious view could not help but be mixed with the instruction. The supposedly non-denominational lessons offered by a Unitarian-affiliated teacher would almost certainly differ from those offered by a fundamentalist or evangelical instructor.
What about the children who are not Christian? There are Jewish residents in Rappahannock County, for example. There is no “non-denominational” Christian instruction which will meet with the approval of their parents.
And what about the children whose parents decide that they should not participate? Kids can be surprisingly cruel, and the potential for taunting and spurning of children who do not participate should be considered. What alternative will those children be offered during the time that their classmates attend the “rolling chapel?”
Should valuable school time be set aside for what is, after all, a matter of personal and family belief? Traditionally, religious beliefs are nurtured and passed down through the family.
It is true that communities have, in the past, also fostered certain religious views, while rejecting others. But at that time communities were much more homogeneous, without the wide variety of values which a community such as Rappahannock now represents.
To sanction one type of religious instruction by allowing it during school time seems to us to be a mistake. There is plenty of time outside of school for families to engage in whatever religious instruction they feel appropriate.
It appears to us that the schools have enough essential tasks to accomplish in the education of our young people that they would be well advised to leave the business of their spiritual growth to the family and the church.
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