I’ve heard many people say that “The Bible is not allowed in public schools”. However, this is not at all true. To ban the Bible from school would be a blatant infringement of the students’ rights. Students are allowed to take Bibles to school and read or discuss it on their own time as they would any other book. They may not use it to disrupt class in any way, but they are free to carry, read, and discuss it just like any other book. In fact, it may even be taught as literature, as it is an ancient source of history, poetry, etc. I even know of public schools that have religion classes in which they study, compare, and contrast different religions.

How about “They took prayer out of school”, which I’m sure we’ve all heard? There is no teacher-led prayer, and students may not disrupt class with a prayer, but students are free to pray at school. They may pray aloud any time they would normally be allowed to speak freely, as long as it’s not a disruption, and they may also pray silently at any time as long as it doesn’t disrupt class. (They do need to pay attention, for example, and not just meditate all the way through algebra.)

Also, did you know that Bible Clubs are allowed in public schools? If the school allows other non-curriculum clubs to meet on school property, they must give the same rights to religious clubs.

For more specific information about students’ rights, click here.

Similarly, laws exist to protect religious rights in the workplace. An employer doesn’t have to accommodate something that causes an “undue hardship” or threatens safety, but they do have to accommodate most things. Click here to read more specifics about religious rights in the workplace.

So why do these fallacies abound? I think it’s because we too often don’t ask, don’t request, don’t use our rights, and then wonder why we don’t have any. The answer is that we DO have them, we just don’t use them.

Besides, I’ve always said that as long as there is calculus class there will be prayer in school.