A Study of the Problem of Religious Education in the Public Schools

Book excerpt: "This paper aims to present a brief but comprehensive review of the relation, attitudes and views of this nation's leaders, civic, educational and religious, in connection with the inclusion or religious training in the public schools. It is only fair to admit that this study will endeavor to prove that some sort of religious education, whether it be under the domain of the family, the school or the Church, is necessary for the spiritual and social well-being of our future citizens, and, consequently, of our nation. This paper cannot help by point in that direction because the fruits of research, under the light of objectivity and a dispassionate weighing of the evidence, consistently show a deep anxiety for the spiritual, moral development of our youth and a deep resolve that something must be done about this grievous omission in the development of the whole child...Furthermore, this study will, it is hoped, shed light on certain pertinent questions intrinsically bound up with the problem at hand. These questions need not be specifically enunciated in the main body of this essay, but they will be evident indirectly through a necessarily brief discussion of various aspects of the problem facing the nation. These are the questions. What do our nation's leaders say concerning religious education? Can religious training of the youth remain solely the problem of the home and Church, or must the public schools adopt the task? What is the place of religion in the public schools? Is there a real need today for religious education? What are the main objections to the inclusion of religious education in the public schools? What is the historical picture of religious education? What major plans have been proposed? Has the American principle of separation of Church and state been correctly and justly interpreted? Is character training and moral training synonymous? Is a solution favorable to all possible? What is the opinion of the Catholic Church?"--Leaves 2-4.