|
By Kent Larsen
LDS Seminaries in Middle of Church-in-School Debate
MILWUAKEE, WISCONSIN -- An article in yesterday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
reviews the current place of religion in the public schools and in the
process looks at an LDS Seminary Class. Like a multitude of religious
activities that are sometimes found in high schools, the LDS Seminary
program sometimes finds itself squarely in the middle of the debate, which
often pits conservatives and liberals in the US against each other on school
boards and in legislatures, but almost always gets decided in the courts as
foes cite conflicting principles of the US Constitution's first amendment.
The Journal-Sentinel cites an LDS seminary class at Mukwonago High School as
an example. The class meets at 6:30 am in the high school, which is
permitted because the law gives religious groups access to the school on the
same basis as other groups. Teacher Jana Boschi says getting approval to use
the school was not a problem, and her students say that they haven't
experienced discrimination from their peers. And, they say, the class helps
them approach their day. "Coming to seminary sets the tone for the whole
day, and it gives you knowledge," says Catherine Mortimer, a sophomore who
had to attend go to an LDS chapel in Wales for seminary before Boschi was
able to get access to the school. "So if someone asks you about the church,
you can answer."
But the use of schools by religious groups has been controversial, despite
court rulings that make it legal. After the US Supreme Court struck down
religious instruction in the public schools more than 50 years ago, it was
generally assumed that religious groups couldn't use school facilities. "The
old understanding was essentially that this notion of church and state
precluded schools from distributing this material," says West Bend School
District Superintendent Michael Wiziards. But the courts have since made it
clear that this is wrong also, that religious groups have a right to use the
facilities on the same basis as non-religious groups do. The law also allows
students to express religious views in class lessons, leave the school
building for religious instruction, and pray individually and in student-led
groups.
But Sarah Jerome, Superintendent of the Moraine School District in Waukesha
county, Wisconsin, says these principles hide a minefield of possibilities
that often get the districts in trouble. "So many school districts have had
difficulties in handling the arrays of freedoms that are included in this -
the freedom to express, religious freedom or religious expressions as well
as, on the other end of the spectrum, freedom from religion, freedom from
being harassed or coerced or proselytized." Her district has been accused of
erring both in favor of religion and of erring against religion. In 1998 the
Freedom From Religion Foundation said the district shouldn't have allowed a
Catholic pre-prom Mass on school grounds. Then, last month, the district was
accused of violating a student's rights by not allowing the second-grader to
distribute religious valentines. "We have wanted to do the right thing,"
Jerome said. "There was never an intention, either in '98 when we were doing
the pre-prom Mass or currently, a determination - 'Oh, here we can violate
somebody's rights, let's jump in and do it' - as some of the talk-radio
shows have implied."
But some religious organizations say that school districts go too far. "Many
public school administrators believe that the safest route is the route of
censorship, and that is an impermissible approach to take," said Mathew
Staver, president and general counsel of the Liberty Counsel, a religious
liberty organization. His group has sued Wisconsin school districts in
Racine, Kenosha and Kettle Moraine over religious freedom.
Meanwhile, Mormons have sometimes faced these issues from both sides. In
Utah, where LDS students are released from school to attend Seminary in
buildings located near the schools, non-Mormons have accused the schools of
supporting the Mormon majority and allowing too much religion in the
classroom. Meanwhile, outside of Utah some Mormons discover themselves in
school districts where the majority religion persecutes them, such as was
the case with Mormon family that sued the Santa Fe Texas School District.
That case led to a decision in the US Supreme Court last year that ruled
school-sponsored prayers at school football games were unconstitutional.
Sources:
Schools struggle with limits of religion
Milwaukee WI Journal-Sentinel 9May01 T1
See also:
Coverage of the Santa Fe Texas School Prayer Case
|
