“Let us take alarm at this first experiment on our (religious) liberties” (Maddox 3). Former president James Madison’s words still ring through American ears as a nation is alarmed by the government’s attack on America’s religious ideals Like James Madison, the first Europeans to settle the United States came with a dream of religious freedom. After being social pariahs in their native countries, these settlers held their religious choice sacred. They left their homes, families, and lives behind to seek freedom from religious constraints put on them by their native government. They risked their lives to come to a land where government would stay out of their spiritual lives. Today, hundreds of years later, our nation has yet to make this dream a reality. Government threatens the policy of separation of church and state in schools everyday. School sanctioned religiously based organizations, prayer in school, and President George W. Bush’s faith based educational plans defy this American ideal. The government’s support of religion in school is unconstitutional, unethical, and degrading. Originally, religion and education were integrated. Most schools based their curriculum on religious orientation and encompassed prayer and religious study. This posed no problem in the beginning as settlers chose to reside in colonies that fit their religious affiliation. The 13 colonies grew however, and the need for standardized education became apparent. State and local governments began to fund schools as a method of achieving high standards of education and attaining adequate teaching materials. Consequently, many of these religiously diverse states adopted the policy of separation of church and state to insure objectivity. “The absence of these same rights in the Constitution of the United States, drawn up in 1787, caused many to vote against ratifying it. The first Congress of the United States, th...
