I wonder how many of the critics of released time programs truly want a meaningful released time experience for all students? Or is that merely a convenient means to attack any kind of released time program? Are some of you opposed to released time solely because it is an attempt to accommodate religious parents and their children from the kinds of problems they suffer in public schools.
I think Mark does a good job of explaining the kinds of problems experienced by many religious families who feel coerced, by the way educational benefits are structured, into sending their children to secular public schools. Would you support a released time program in your local public schools if it were broad enough to allow children to be released to attend religious or secular programs? I would. Rick Duncan --- "Scarberry, Mark" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The values that are central to the faith of many > people cannot be taught in > public schools, such as the importance of praying, > devotionally reading the > Bible or other holy scriptures, attending religious > services, maintaining an > attitude of thankfulness to God, loving others > because of God's love for you > and because God loves them as well, etc. > > > > Of course Marty has just given us a good argument > that public schools > violate the religion clauses; inasmuch as he reveres > them, it seems that > they are an object of worship. Perhaps a sacred cow? > (I should note that I > send my youngest daughter to a public elementary > school, even though I do > not worship it.) > > > > Mark S. Scarberry > > Pepperdine University School of Law > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Marty Lederman > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 11:38 AM > To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics > Subject: Re: 21st Century Zorach > > > > A small clarification: The Constitution does not, > as such, prohibit the > teaching in public schools of most "values" that are > central to, and derived > from, religion. See, e.g., Bowen v. Kendrick, 487 > U.S. at 612-13, 621. > What it prohibits are "specifically religious > activities," id. at 621, i.e., > teacher-led or -encouraged prayer, religious > proselytization, and teaching > of specifically religious tenets and beliefs. And > it prohibits specifically > antireligious activities, too, such as teaching or > encouraging students to > adopt atheism. Obviously, the Constitution might > prohibit the teaching of > some beliefs (e.g., creationism) that are central to > certain religious > traditions -- but the dichotomy between "religious > values" on the one hand, > and "environmental," "healthy lifestyle," > "multicultural" and "patriotic" > values, on the other, is misleading, I think. > > > > But hey, what do I know? Seeing as how I not only > welcome, but revere, the > public school system, apparently I am (in Jim > Henderson's view) a parent who > is either "daunted" by the process [read; prospect] > of educating my > children, or who "lack[s] skills necessary to do > so." > > > _______________________________________________ > To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get > password, see > http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw > > Please note that messages sent to this large list > cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe > to the list and read messages that are posted; > people can read the Web archives; and list members > can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others. ===== Rick Duncan Welpton Professor of Law University of Nebraska College of Law Lincoln, NE 68583-0902 "When the Round Table is broken every man must follow either Galahad or Mordred: middle things are gone." C.S.Lewis, Grand Miracle "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered." --The Prisoner __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
