First thing we need to do is thank everyone lately that has visited our blog.  We got such a huge response on our post about How Times Have Changed..School 1958 vs. 2008 and Two Cow Economics that we wanted to follow that up with one about the change concerning religion in our schools.  The facts that you will read are from 1782 - 1985, we will follow this post up with information and status on more recent decisions and changes.  Enjoy!!

1782 - 6 years after the birth of this country the congress of the US issued this statement to the schools of America:

• “The congress of the united states approves and recommends to the people the Holy Bible for use in all schools” (from the congressional record)

1811 – in the case of the People vs. Ruggles a man publicly slandered the Bible and was brought to trial that ultimately came to the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court issued this statement:

• “You have attacked the Bible. In attacking the Bible you have attacked Jesus Christ. In attacking Jesus Christ you have attacked the roots of our nation.”

1844 – in the case of VIA (?) vs. Girand, a public school decided it would teach morals, ethics without the use of the Bible. Parents filed suit against the school and the case ultimately came to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court allowed the school to teach morals and ethics without the use of the Bible, but gave this admonition to the school:

• “….why not use the Bible and especially the New Testament to be read and taught as divine revelation in the schools? Where else can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament.”

1854 – On March 27, 1954 a group of people petitioned the US Congress to establish separation of church and state. The US Congress issued this statement:

• “At the time of the adoption of the constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged. In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity. That was the belief of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the belief of their descendants. The great and vital element in our concern is the belief of our people in the pure doctrine and the divine truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.“

1931 – The US Supreme Court issued this statement:

• “We are a Christian people and we acknowledge with reverence the duty of obedience to the will of God.”

1947 – US Supreme Court declared separation of church and state.

1962 – The US Supreme Court banned prayers in public schools

1963 – Bible reading was outlawed in classrooms of America.

1965 – The US Supreme Court declared it illegal for a student to bow his dead and pray audibly over his lunchtime meal.

1967 – This statement was made by the US Supreme Court outlawing a nursery rhyme:

• “Although the word God is not contained in this nursery rhyme, if someone were to hear it, it might cause them to think of god and it is therefore unconstitutional. “

1980 – In the case of Stone vs. Grahm, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Ten Commandments could no longer be posted in the public classrooms of America. They issued this statement:

• “If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any affect at all, it will be to induce school children to read them, if they read them, they may meditate upon them and perhaps venerate them and obey them. This is not a permissible objective.”

School problems

1960 – The top 7 complaints in California public schools were:

• Talking out of turn
• Chewing gum in class
• Making noise in class
• Running in the halls
• Cutting in line
• Dress code violations
• Littering

1985 – The top 7 complaints were:

• Drug abuse
• Alcohol abuse
• Pregnancy
• Suicide
• Rape
• Robbery violent assault

Tags: Bloggled, Politics

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 9:49 am and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.