Navigating religious freedom in public schools

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, January 16th..

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Up next, it’s Religious Freedom Day.

The annual proclamation happens every January 16th as a national observance, issued by the sitting President. It began in 1993 under President George Bush.

BROWN: Here to talk about Religious Freedom Day is Eric Buehrer. He’s a former school teacher who founded Gateways to Better Education 34 years ago. The organization helps parents and teachers create schools that teach about the Bible and Christianity, and do so legally!

REICHARD: He’s written four books on the subject, including one I read years ago that was so helpful when my kids were in school. Eric, good morning!

ERIC BUEHRER: Good morning, good to be with you.

REICHARD: Well, I’m so glad you took time with us. Why do you think it’s important for schools to observe Religious Freedom Day? What’s the benefit for students and educators?

BUEHRER: Well, it’s a wonderful civics lesson on the First Amendment and very practically applicable to the school and where the students are that they can express their faith in their homework and their artwork and their conversations in their class discussions. And a lot of schools would think, Oh, we’ve got a Religious Freedom Day. We’ve got to have all the clergy from all the different denominations and religious places of worship come to the school, and that’s going to be uncomfortable, so let’s not do it. And we tell them, no, you don’t have to do any of that.

REICHARD: Well we can’t cover all of these things, I know, but what are some common misconceptions among parents and educators about the role of religion in public schools?

BUEHRER: Well, on the one hand, you’ve got those who say we need to shield our schools from anything religious. So any conversations, any mention of it in class, it immediately gets shut down. That’s a total misconception of the supposed separation of church and state. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got those teachers who see, you know, hey, my point is to evangelize my students, and then they end up violating the law because they go too far. But that middle ground is really understanding what my freedoms are. And teachers have some freedoms. They have the freedom, of course, to teach about religion, not to try to make it devotional. And they can, of course, pray with their colleagues. They can meet for Bible study with their colleagues. They can’t pray with students during school time, and so it’s when you're on the clock, then you can’t be engaged in religious activities with students, but you can when you’re off the clock.

REICHARD: How do you say to administrators who worry they’re going to get sued if they acknowledge Religious Freedom Day?

BUEHRER: Yes, administrators oftentimes are fearful of something like this, because it seems like, “Oh no, I’m getting into troubled waters here.” The fact of the matter is, the Department of Education has asked school administrators to inform students on these issues. Everybody should understand it, so you’re really just complying with what the federal government has asked you to do. We tell school administrators, “Treat this like an HR training. You want all your staff to understand what people’s freedoms are so you don’t have problems.”

REICHARD: Eric, can you tell us some stories of schools that have successfully observed Religious Freedom Day?

BUEHRER: Yes, some great opportunities where we’ve had schools actually do an assembly and talk about the First Amendment and talk about civics and talk about the importance of religious expression. We’ve had schools that have sent out information to all the teachers and encourage them to acknowledge the day and show their students what their religious freedoms are. It’s some really simple strategies. It’s not difficult to do. It’s just informing them on the law.

REICHARD: One of the things on your website that caught my eye is that you emphasize camaraderie and reason over conflict and rage. Now I think that’s something most of us can get on board with! So how can parents advocate for their children’s religious liberties in school?

BUEHRER: Yeah, I often say, you know, we’re called to be salt and light, but we use salt on things to make it better, not bitter, and our light should be a lamp, not a blowtorch. And in today’s social media, we tend to lean toward the most outrageous, and we got to go and show our anger and that sort of thing. And actually, we call it relational activism, using the relationships that you have to be an influencer on that person. So if it’s a teacher, if you’re a parent and you want to go talk to the teacher, go to our website, get some of the materials that we have, print them out, take it to the teacher and just have a conversation and say, you know, this is what the federal government says. We’ve had parents that have gone to school board meetings talk to school board members before the meeting, by the way, that’s always good, and then request that the board recognize Religious Freedom Day and do a little resolution: our board joins the president in acknowledging Religious Freedom Day and encourages our staff to inform their students of their religious freedoms in the classroom.

REICHARD: Relational activism. I’m going to remember that. Eric Buehrer is president of Gateways to Better Education, an organization devoted to helping parents of public school students, and really it’s helpful for anyone to read these materials. Eric, thank you so much!

BUEHRER: Thank you. Good to be with you.

REICHARD: We have links to the materials mentioned in today’s show notes.

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