Mobile County school officials must remain neutral on religion
Jan. 1, 2004
Freedom of religion is a core value of American society. Students in public schools in Alabama and throughout the country have a constitutionally guaranteed right to religious freedom. This freedom includes the right to pray, say grace before meals; read the Bible or other religious texts, discuss religious topics, whether or not they are connected to the school curriculum; give religious materials to their fellow students who want them; and hold rallies, among other activities.
What Alabama courts, courts across the country and the U. S. Supreme Court have said is that our public schools must respect the religious beliefs of everyone and protect the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit. That means that schools must be neutral when it comes to religion. Only when public schools are neutral do they serve the interests of religious freedom for all students and families. When school administrators or other staff promote or endorse religion they make children and their parents who believe otherwise feel unwelcome in their own community.
Religious neutrality by teachers, administrators and other school officials means that student prayer and other religious activities must be initiated by students; the participation of students must be voluntary (free from coercion by school officials or other students); the activities must take place on non-instructional time and school staff and officials must not encourage or promote the students’ activities in any way. As long as Mobile County school officials follow these simple and logical rules, they will be truly neutral and, therefore, respectful of the diverse backgrounds of students and their families and the religious freedom we all cherish.
Guidelines underscoring these common sense rules have been issued by Alabama’s Attorney General and can be found at www.ago.state.al.us . They are also reiterated and discussed in a joint statement issued by churches and religious groups such as the Baptist Joint Committee, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ. The joint statement can be found at www.aclu.org.
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