Final Entry

     Religion is a topic that has been shunned in almost every public school setting in the United States. Many will say there are various reasons for this topic being considered taboo. It just depends on who you are speaking to and which side they are on as to what the issues are. Many will say that it is because the constitution dictated the separation, others will say, this is not the case.
     Why can we not live in peace with each others religion? We all have walked some of the same paths as we migrated from one place to another. During our migration we have talked to many others on their beliefs and foundations. During migration, religion is what held families, communities and towns together during the tough times. It did not matter what religion the families were they all came together for strength and support.
     It did not and should not now matter where a religion came from or what symbols represent them. Every religion has an origin other than the United States. We should be embracing this diversity for our future generations and not hindering their yearning for knowledge. Everything starts someplace, not just religion. When it comes to religion though the origins are so vast. The vastness makes the diversity much more pronounced. Not every religion prays to the same higher being or even prays at all. Some religions pray to symbols.
     In every religion there is a recognized symbol. In many religions there are many different symbols that signify them. In Christianity we have the cross and the outlined fish. Both of these symbols represent a specific instance in the life of Christianity. By not allowing us to teach our future generations the history behind these symbols and many more in other religions we are depriving them of an abundance of educational information.
    When we allow the Separation of Church and State, we allow our children to believe that discrimination is acceptable. Diversity in classrooms is become more the norm instead of the exception. If we wish for the children of the future to live in peace with each then we need to encourage knowledge of other religions, genders, and even different nationalities. We are not asking to educate or convert a child to a different religion, we are just asking to be able to teach the history and background of those religions to broaden our children's education. With a broader educational background in more topics the children of the future will not have the barriers the older generations have.
    

Entry 8

     We don't always think of television, the Internet and even social media sites as having any effect on religion. If you look closer into the depth of who they attract and the extent of where they can reach the media is a great source for a voice. Many of the voices that are heard on these sites are not in the best interest of a topic. The separation of Church and State is one topic that social media has "blasted' in a negative light in many forums.
     There are numerous sites both for and against the topic of the separation of Church and State. Where do you go and what do you believe to find the truth? With so many sites available this is hard to do. Too many times the information is skewed or biased for one side or another.
     Information on every topic imaginable has been spread through the diffusion of television, Internet and even the social media. In today's society most everyone has or has access to a television and the Internet. Anyone can post whatever they choose in these forums. With this rapid spread of information topics are not safe.
     With the Internet and the global positions it will be in the best interest of our children's future to allow them to explore the different diversities in religion, nationalities and genders so broaden their education environment. When our future children seek these global careers, they will have a better understanding of the various diversities. Our children will have been taught the history behind their religion and have been exposed to the beliefs and foundational philosophies.
     In the past a person just had to worry about the word of mouth, local television and the local newspaper. That is no longer the case, now we know of issues within minutes of something occurring. Someone posting something can reach millions and millions in such a short time.
     I believe the diffusion of information from such sites has impacted the public opinion on the separation of church and state as a topic. The topic has spread to millions upon millions of people. These social media sites can reach every person in every land and in every language. How can you battle against something that reaches so many in the blink of an eye?

Entry 7

     We have taught our children not to judge people by how they look or where they are from. We teach them that just because someone is not the same as us does not make them bad. It just makes them different. Why then do we allow adults to treat a religion different from all the others? Christianity may look different (symbol) or not be from here (originated some place else) but that does not make it something bad. We are teaching our children that it is ok to think something different is bad through the separation of church and state.


     Our children are thinking it is acceptable to put down, belittle and make fun of others that are not the same as them when it comes to religion. Separation of Church and State is helping this crisis. By not allowing our children to learn about other religions and about what their foundational beliefs are, or even where their beliefs have come from, where the bases of their beliefs are from we are condoning our childrens behaviors. Our children are going to grow up believing it is ok to not learn about things that are different from them. Children that believe different is wrong are being taught this way by adults.

By taking religion out of the schools students are seeing it as something that is bad and wrong. Do we really want to be sending such a message to our future adults? we are depriving our children of being able to experience diversity in more than one level. We are not asking educators to preach the religions. We could ask that students be exposed to the history, the origins, and maybe even the symbols and basis of the religion. We are not trying to convert children just educate them. Here is a link for Bullying and Religion . I believe these are some of the things we should be implementing into our schools. If we want our children to respect others as adults, then we need to be teaching them how to respect others as children.

References

Bullying and religion. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.teenbelief.com/bullying.html:





Entry 6

     It does not matter where the religion started, who started the religion or even how it was started. What matters is where the religion went after it was started. It matters what has become of the religion, where it has gone and who is following the religion. Most religions do not stay in the same place as their origin. Religions have migrated across cities, states, and countries. Just as people migrate, religion moves along with the migration.

     Most every religion has an origin other than the United States. If religions have not been started here then how do we have so many different religion? We have the various religions because as people moved they not only have taken their families and belongings they have also taken their beliefs, their foundations and their morals. As the families moved and migrated from place to place, from town to town and town they would talk about their religion to others that believed as they did and also to those that did not. Each time they spoke to someone then went on their separate ways the religion grew. This is the way the religions grew and migrated across the countries.

     Some people believe that all religions come from one origin. These same people believe that most every religion merged from one. As the immigrants migrated and talked of their religion the religion "morphed" and changed. They believe people changed the religion to suit their needs and wants. If a person wanted a structured organized God then they changed God to be fierce. Is this really such a far fetched idea? Don't most  religions have some overlap? If there is overlap then the possibility is there that most religions stem from one another.

 References:

 

World map [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=world map photo&qpvt=world map photo&FORM=IQFRML

 



Entry 5

Buddhist Eight spoked wheel

     Christianity, like every other religion has an origin. The origins are not the same for each religion. Contemporary Human Geography gives examples of three of these origins. The first is Hinduism, which originated about 1400 b.c. when Aryan tribes from Central Asia invaded India, bringing with them the Indo-European languages. The second is Buddhism, which originated after the founder took four trips. During each of the trips he began feeling he could no longer live like he was. On the fourth, and final trip he met a monk that taught him about withdrawing from the world. This withdrawal formed the Buddhism religion. The third example is the origin of Christianity, which came from "the teachings of Jesus" (Rubenstein, 2013)


Hindu Ohm Pendant

     The origin of each religion is significant to the foundation of the religion. Hinduism has India, Buddhism has Bodh Gaya.  Christianity has Jerusalem. Each of these places has a huge significance to the basics of their religion. The sites are where the religion came to be. These sites are all as different as the religions and the believes in the religions.

     Each religion has its own representation of the religion . Each symbol has a special meaning based upon the origin of the religion. The Buddhists have an eight spoked wheel a  'Dharmachakra' (Sanskrit)  which "symbolizes the Buddha's turning the Wheel of Truth or Law (dharma = truth/law, chakra = wheel)."("A view on," 2011) The Hindus have a symbol named  “Om”, "which is the first syllable in any prayer. More specifically, Om is used to symbolize the universe and the ultimate reality. Some people say that this symbol represents the three aspects of God: the Brahma (A), the Vishny (U) and the Shiva (M)."(Hindu symbols, 2013)  In Christianity" the cross is one of the earliest and most widely used Christian symbols. In the most broad sense it symbolizes the religion of Christianity. More specifically, it represents and memorializes Christ's death."(Christian crosses, 2004)

     Do we fault the Buddhists or the Hindus for not being a Christian? Just because their religious beliefs are different does not mean their beliefs are wrong. We all do not have the same background or schema that our neighbor does. These differences in our individual lives allow for the differences in our religion to balance. If everyone was the same in every aspect of our lives we would have a boring existence. The variations in each persons lives, the differences we encounter in religion and lifestyles is what makes life exciting.

Christian cross

                                                          

   References:

A view on buddhism. (2011, September 11). Retrieved from http://www.viewonbuddhism.org/general_symbols_buddhism.html
Christian crosses. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/symbols/cross.htm
Hindu symbols. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.ancient-symbols.com/hindu-symbols.html
Rubenstein, J. M. (2013). Origins of religion. In Contemporary Human Geography (2 ed., pp. 130-131). Pearson.

Entry 4

     Separation of Church and state does not just mean not saying Merry Christmas or calling the break a Christmas or Easter Break. It also does not just mean not being able to say "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. These are just some examples of times when we can not associate religion to the schools. The separation of Church and State factor can be less than the uproars that come with these. The separation of Church and State factor can be as minor as talking about the Christian religion in any form.
     In some educational establishments, there are courses of religion offered, LCCC is one such establishment. Even in these courses designed to discuss religion the topic is very limited. There are many areas the instructors still are unable to discuss or even mention to their students. These students have purchased the opportunity to discuss the topic with others, yet they still have to watch what is said. The instructor can guide a topic in these courses but may not be able to interject any knowledge for fear of offending anyone or crossing the line of separation.
    Educators of younger children have the issue of not spreading their knowledge of religion to their students also.  Educators in the past could design lessons geared towards religious knowledge . One such project I remember from my childhood was when the educator would either assign or allow the students to each choose a different religion to research. The research would then be shared with the class. These projects allowed each child to learn about a variety of religions at one time. The students gained an abundance of knowledge from this project. These projects are no longer allowed.
      Our children are our future. Our main goal is to allow our children to get the best education possible. We need provide our children with the most knowledge possible to prepare them for the future.  If this is our ultimate goal for our children why are we hindering their educational opportunities, Our children are being deprived sections of their education due to the separation factor of the Church and State.

References: 

 

 

[Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=photos God out of school&qpvt=photos God out of school&FORM=IGRE

 



  

Entry #3

     Everyone is so afraid of offending anyone any more. We all have to be politically correct for fear of upsetting anyone for using a religious reference. We have even had to change our greetings, and how we reference the break at the end of the year for school, because not all children are the same religious affiliation. We now have to say Happy Holidays or Season Greetings and call the break a winter break or a winter recess. We can not say Merry Christmas or call the break a Christmas or Holiday break.
     Have you ever thought about why this is accepted world wide though we are still allowed to say Happy Hanukkah or Joyous Kwanzaa? We are singling out one religion and only one. Nick Turner makes a good point about this same topic in  his article Christmas, not Winter break(Christmas, not winter break, 2006) Why is it just the Christian religion that is targeted for being unacceptable in the schools along with the public? We are so afraid of offending someone other than a Christian for their beliefs. All other religions are still allowed in schools and in some places even taught and discussed.
     If religion is not allowed in schools should this not be the case for all religions? We should have it the same for all religions. If an educator is allowed to reference, teach and discuss the religions in other countries, it should be acceptable to teach discuss and reference the prominent religions here. As educators we should be able to teach the reason for Christmas. We should be able to teach our students the history and reasons for the holiday. Most families only know about their own religions. Our children are being denied the privilege of learning about other religions because we are afraid of offending someone. Should we not be more concerned about our children's education than someone else's feelings?

References:

 

 

Sanchez, S. (2006, December 21). Christmas, not winter break by nick turner. Retrieved from http://stonethepreacher.com/2006/12/21/christmas-not-winter-break-by-nick-turner.html