First Amendment Religion and Education History Essay

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution: Applications to Education
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The First Amendment of the United States Constitution forbids the government to follow and to promote a single official religion, support religious activities, or demonstrate an inclination to a single practising religion. Moreover, the U.S. government disapproves interfering with the expression of religious philosophies. Due to these injunctions, public school educators find it difficult to delineate the vague distinction on what they can and cannot do. This is especially true in subjects such as history and sociology where religion is frequently tackled CITATION Cornd \l 13321 (Cornell Law School, n.d.)
A case given in the class involves a student who submitted an essay regarding Jesus as a hero and a portrayal of The Last Supper. Since the idea of “Jesus” does not apply to all religions, this causes certain dilemmas.
As stated by the National Education Association (n.d.), students are allowed to express their faith and religious predispositions in front of the class, given that the students are voluntarily conveying their message, without the influence of outside sources, such as their teacher’s conviction. This is allowable in class as long as the statement of religious faith is relevant to the subject and conferring to the assignment guidelines and school standards. At the same time, the teachers shall assess the work of the students solely based on the ordinary academic standards which only evaluate the impact of the work, notwithstanding the teachers’ personal views and opinion. Moreover, giving credits or punishment based on religious beliefs shall not be tolerated by the teachers, more so in public schools (National Education Association, n.d.).
The dilemma comes when the student starts to explain why Jesus is his hero and why The Last Supper is an important part of his belief. This is because students have constitutional rights on refusing to hear or communicate with other people’s religious beliefs in school. The student’s work should not be displayed nor explained in class for this action will violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. There are previous and existing Supreme Court cases that were filed secondary to this violation. This includes the Abington School District v. Schempp, Engel v. Vitale, and Murray v. Curlett.
The ...