Charles Haynes called the teaching of religion and religious traditions "deeply, deeply important" to a good education
By JoAnn Meyer
First Amendment expert Charles Haynes told a group of Hopewell Valley parents and religious leaders that their schools have "got all the right heart quality" to resolve issues about the observance of holidays in the schools and predicted that the coming months will yield a resolution that will make the community stronger.
"Controversy is not always a bad thing," said Dr. Haynes, a national leader in helping communities resolve issues of religious liberty in public schools. "There is probably nothing we do that’s more important than what we do in our public schools because that’s where we shape our future."
Dr. Haynes made his remarks to a crowd of approximately 100 during a recent community forum at the Hopewell Valley Performing Arts Center at Central High School. He appeared, free of charge, at the invitation of Superintendent Judith A. Ferguson.
The topic of classroom practices in December is currently under school board review after a memo from Bear Tavern Elementary Principal Bruce Arcurio last year stirred controversy among parents.
Dr. Haynes, a Harvard-educated scholar who has co-authored guides on religion and religious expression in the public classroom, said public school leaders who scrub religion from their classrooms are just as wrong as those who promote it.
"Neutrality does not mean hostility," he said. "If I ignore you, you wouldn’t think I was being neutral; you would think I was hostile. Neutrality doesn’t mean being silent about religion. It means fairness."
Dr. Haynes called the teaching of religion and religious traditions "deeply, deeply important" to a good education and said most communities accept policies charting new territory in their schools when they feel confident that religions are treated appropriately through the curriculum throughout the year.
Dr. Haynes, who has brokered resolutions in communities all over the country for the past 20 years, said the most successful ones have two things in common: work begins on them when emotions are lowest i.e., not in December and they are comprehensive in scope, not limited to a hot button issue, such as the content of a choral concert. "The emotion about that part goes way down when the claims of conscience part is dealt with appropriately," he said.
At its core, he pointed out, the First Amendment provides two guarantees: no establishment of religion and no prohibition on free exercise of religion. Time and time again, polls show most Americans believe public places are hostile to religion when, in fact, the Supreme Court has never ruled against prayer in the schools, Dr. Haynes noted. Rather, he said, it has said religion cannot be imposed on students.
Dr. Haynes reminded his audience that it was devout Christian fundamentalists who led the charge to remove God from public school textbooks not out of First Amendment sensitivities, but rather out of fear they would one day be outnumbered by Catholics who might put their own spin on schoolbook content.
A well-representative group of citizens needs to begin by determining what everyone agrees on and moving forward; it cannot start with the controversy, he emphasized. The group also must function with civility and respect and understand that, as with all civic debate, there are winners and losers, he continued.
Dr. Haynes, who met briefly with top district administrators, principals, PTO leaders and members of the Board of Education before making his public remarks, told the assembled parents that they had well-intentioned professionals who are trying to do the right thing.
"You’ve got all the right heart quality here," he said. Frequently, public school systems earn deeper trust and support once a community comes together to discuss a controversy, he said. "We take it for granted, but Americans do agree on a lot of things," he said. Key, he said, is a community’s success in addressing the issue of conscience.
"As important as Santa Claus is to the kids, the thing that is most important to all of us is to protect the freedom of conscience," Dr. Haynes said.
Dr. Haynes is the author of "Religion in American History: What to Teach and How," winner of a 1990 Educational Press Award, and "Finding Common Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Education." He co-authored "Religion in American Public Life: Living with Our Deepest Differences" and "Taking Religion Seriously Across the Curriculum."
Dr. Haynes holds a master’s degree in religion and education from Harvard Divinity School and a doctorate in theological studies from Emory University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Character Education Partnership and the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education.