Say "no" to Religion in School!

I found this article called "Reclaiming Education: hoping for sanity at the SBOE" in the Austin Chronicle. In it, columnist Lee Nichols discusses the 15 members of the State Board of Education in Texas and the candidates running against them in the SBOE partisan races. Nichols also reveals some of their appalling techniques in quarreling like children. Seven members are either religious or political “fundamentalists.” The other eight consists of 5 Democrats and “3 moderate Republicans” who apparently do not enjoy the presence of the fundamentalists on the “SBOE.” It seems to cause a lot of friction between the members (and those running against them in the upcoming election) when topics such as curriculum standards or evolution and creationism are discussed. I chose this article because I believe that there is no place for religion or extreme fundamentalism in school. I am firm and quite unmovable in my position on religion in schools. In other words, it does not belong in school. To quote an anonymous friend from last semester in U.S. Government: “School is for learning evolution and facts. Church is for learning about creationism and other theories.” This kind of political division in the SBOE could cause a bunch of turmoil for people with children in school. One day, students may walk in to school with only a few changes to the standards required by the state. Of course, the kids may walk into school and be forced to learn about a religious ideology that they do not believe in, nor do their parents want them to be learning as a fact. Not everyone believes the world was created 6,000 years ago. Some of us believe in the existence of the Sumerians! For those more relaxed Creationists, some people do not believe in "God," or at least your god. Can you imagine the kind of friction this would cause between friends at school? Or, how about the teachers being forced to teach something they believe to be false and completely off track from the truth? I think these fundamentalists (on the SBOE and running in election) need to step away from their pulpits and face reality. Reality is that you have to at LEAST attempt to stay on the facts relevant to school, and keep the religious dogma where it belongs: in churches.