Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli

In 1635, the Boston Latin School was the first public school to open in the colonies. And it is today the oldest public school in the nation. Throughout the 17th century, the colonies opened public schools. But, unlike our public schools today, these schools concentrated not so much on mathematics and science, but on reading. And they used the Bible as their textbook. They tried to inculcate in their students discipline and virtue, respect for family and community. They were unashamed to emphasize the practice of religion as essential for a good life and a sound community.

In 1688, Benjamin Harris, a British journalist who immigrated to Boston, printed the very first textbook to be used in public schools in the colonies. It was the New England Primer, a thoroughly religious book imbued with Protestant theology. The New England Primer constantly quoted the King James Bible, taught lessons from it and included prayers such as the famous children’s prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.

The New England Primer shaped the thinking of our Founding Fathers and their succeeding generations for 150 years. Thus, from the birth of our nation, religion and education were wedded in a happy marriage that produced children of upright character and faith.

But, today, God has been banned from public education. Public prayer is forbidden, Christmas carols outlawed and religion excluded. With its two landmark decisions, Engel v. Vitale on June 25, 1962, and Abington School District v. Schempp on June 17, 1963, the Supreme Court declared school-sponsored prayer and Bible readings unconstitutional, thus effectively banishing God and religion from our public schools. But, this did not happen like a sudden thunderclap across a clear, blue sky.

The well-known American philosopher John Dewey (1859 -1952) exerted an unprecedented influence on public education in the United States. Dewey was an atheistic humanist who held that the universe is self-existing and that the human person is a part of nature. He did not accept the fact that God created the universe and humankind.

For Dewey, God merely represented whatever energized people to strive for perfection. God could be the community or some ideals, but certainly not a transcendent being. Because of his influence, John Dewey became, in fact, the chief architect of today’s secularized schools where the Bible is banned and the existence of God is deemed an unscientific belief.

Seventy-five percent of all children in the United States attend public schools. And, 90 percent of them come from Christian homes. Unfortunately, even many good parents think that our public schools are neutral. Public schools are state run schools. They may have excellent programs in science and technology, literature and the arts. But, the state itself is not ambivalent in its views about religion, the existence of God and an ever-changing morality. It mandates a curriculum that teaches state approved attitudes and values while excluding the mention of biblical morality. In the words of renowned Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, the secularism of state run schools is just an illusion of neutrality.

As Christopher H. Dawson has said, “The process of secularization arises not from the loss of faith but from the loss of social interest in the world of faith. It begins the moment men feel that religion is irrelevant to the common way of life and that society as such has nothing to do with the truths of faith.” Recent testing has shown that 90 percent of students from Christian homes attending public schools are deeply influenced by these damaging tenets that religion is irrelevant to society and that faith and politics can be safely separated.

With so many young Americans being processed through state run schools and even through some private schools that may simply have a veneer of religious formation, should we be surprised by the results? A society with no absolutes. A world where one’s own good is the ultimate measure of behavior. Divisive politics. A fragmented culture. We truly live in a time of upheaval, constant agitation and turbulence. In the words of the prophet Hosea, “they who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind” (Hos 8:7).