Defending Our Apostolic Doctrine by Leo Aguilera

THE CHRISTIAN STUDENT’S RIGHTS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL

It is absolutely imperative that Apostolic Christian parents know the legal rights of their child to attend a public school and profess his/her faith in prayer, witnessing, and even being taught the Holy Bible in the public classroom. Much to the astonishment of fundamentalist Christians, prayer, witnessing, and religious instruction IS ALLOWED AND LEGAL in public schools in all 50 states and U.S. territories! If your child is proud to be an Apostolic Christian and bold to profess his/her faith, your child has many avenues to do just that every day attending a public school. Yes, it is a historical fact that the majority of American public schools since the 1800s into the first half of the 20th century did have a time of prayer and reading from the King James Protestant Bible at the commencement of classroom instruction, with no opt out for non-Christian students. All that changed when Catholics, Jews, and “the most hated woman in America”—Madalyn Murray O’Hair—did successfully sue and eliminate these all-student required religious practices in the 1960s. However, the right to pray in school, have bible studies, and take The Bible as Literature class has not been infringed or taken away from any Christian student attending a public school today. Knowing your child’s religious rights and the use of wisdom will enable any Apostolic Christian student to be a dynamic witness of their faith.

PRAYER AND BIBLE STUDIES

Any American student is allowed to pray or have a bible study on campus in an organized, chartered school club because of the Equal Access Act. If your child wants to establish a bible or prayer club with other Apostolic Christians, he/she only needs to apply for a club charter, and it will not be denied as long as the club does not “materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities within the school.” The school is legally required to allow the bible/prayer club to have equal access to all facilities “such as classrooms, copy machines, intercoms, club fairs, bulletin boards, school newspapers, yearbook pictures or any other benefit provided to a secular club.” Your child can apply for the club charter through the student council or principal. The club must be initiated by the student and not the parent. Bible studies and prayers meetings can meet during non-instructional time like during lunch and after school. “Prayer around the flagpole” before the school day is a popular practice with Christian clubs across our nation. A “moment of silence” is also a common practice in school districts for many occasions. This can be a time for prayer and contemplation for your child.

BIBLE AS LITERATURE

YES! The bible can be taught in a public school and is required in most districts as a unit in Senior AP and College Preparatory English. When I taught this unit to my seniors, I told them (and their parents at Open House) the following: “The three cornerstones of Western literature are Shakespeare, Greek and Roman mythology, and the Holy Bible. It doesn’t matter if you are non-Christian, atheist or agnostic, you need to have a basic knowledge and understanding of these three branches of knowledge, or you will not survive college classes in English Literature and the humanities.” I never had a complaint from any student or parent. The guideline for public school teachers is simple: “teach it, but don’t preach it!” I then proceeded to teach my students the most popular bible passages used in poetry and a brief synopsis of popular bible stories that were a MUST to know. The senior textbook I used had the “Prodigal Son” and the “Good Samaritan” as samples for in depth study. Modesto City Schools along with many school districts across our nation require students to take World Religions. Christianity and other world faiths are taught with awareness as the aim of the doctrine and history of these religions.

PERSECUTION

The vast majority of public school teachers do not want to be called into the front office to face an angry parent and inconvenienced principal. Evolution and tolerance of sinful lifestyles are taught by most teachers with the acknowledgment they exist, and then they will move on to teach the rest of the lesson. Occasionally, one teacher may dwell on endorsing a sinful lifestyle, but he/she risks your complaint and the reprove of his/her site supervisor. Surprisingly, fifty percent of teachers and more so with school administrators are conservative. If you feel your child’s Christian values are being challenged or persecuted, or if any fellow student is persecuting by bullying or mocking your child’s faith, you have the power of redress through filing a grievance to be heard first by the teacher, then the principal, and finally the school board, or ultimately taking legal action against the school district. These officials do not want such charges of harassment ever to come to court or garner publicity. Our son Joshua (now youth pastor of our church) carried his bible to class everyday throughout his high school years. He attended the high school where I taught, and he was not persecuted but rather complimented for his boldness. We also had an active bible club on campus where Joshua was allowed to share his faith.

Therefore, parents, have your child do the homework. Find out what it takes to get prayer and bible studies established as common practice at your child’s public school. You may be surprised how other churches have beat you to it. So get in there and encourage your child to be a witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. The public school is a vast harvest field ready for your child to glean!