Religion and Public Schools: A First Amendment Dilemma.
National School Boards Association Annual Conference
Full Conference Day 3
Monday, March 31, 2008
From Orlando, Florida
Andrew C.M. Mizsak
Member of the Bedford Board of Education (Bedford, Ohio)
E-Mail: amizsak@sbcglobal.net
In the arena of public education – in the arena of government as a whole – there is a fine line we walk as public officials between supporting and upholding the Constitution of the United States (and the Oaths we all have taken) and not infringing upon the rights of our students, staff, and community.
Beginning in Delaware on December 7, 1787, when the initial Constitution of the United States was ratified, followed by Pennsylvania five days later, then New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, and so on, the Framers wanted a system of Government that would allow people to enjoy and share in the liberties they had fought the Revolutionary War to obtain. The young American Nation – the Grand Experiment – did not want a king, nor did they want their religious freedom hindered. So many of our original states were founded initially as settlements of individuals of a given religious communities. As a Catholic, my spiritual roots in America are in Maryland, as that was the original Catholic colony, and John Carroll (a Jesuit) was the first American Catholic Bishop.
At the time of the original ratification, nine of thirteen states were needed in order to put the Constitution into effect. At the 1787 Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, an objection was raised by the Rhode Island Delegation saying they would not sign on to the Constitution unless there was a Bill of Rights guaranteeing that government would not infringe upon the rights of the citizens of the new nation. These rights, which we now, unfortunately sometimes take for granted, were the crux of the reason why we declared independence from England, and fought for our independence.
Following the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791, Rhode Island was officially admitted to the Union as the 13th state.
So you may be asking now, “Andrew, why the history lesson?”
There are several reasons: 1.) To promote civics education (I must, I am biased); 2.) Because I promised my Mayor that I would throw one in one of my blog postings (he is a great history teacher); and 3.) Most importantly…because if we do not learn from what we have done in the past, we will not have a strong basis for our future work. At this time, my dad would probably say to me “Those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are condemned to repeat them.”
One of our most solemn acts as public officials that we perform is when we come into office, we raise our right hand (and sometimes place a hand on whatever religious book that governs our life), and swear or affirm to support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of our State, Territory, or Tribal Nation. It is this very act that says to not only ourselves, but to each other, and to the people we serve that we will forsake all others in order to protect the American Experiment. That we will sacrifice ourselves, our personal beliefs, and life and limb, if necessary to preserve, protect, and uphold our system of government and our nation from anything that may try to harm it. While the wording may be different from state to state, from office to office, from civilian to uniformed service, the point is the same. The Institution of the United States is far greater than we are as individuals, and that we do this for love of nation, love of community, and to ensure that the American Experiment goes on for another two hundred thirty-two years (at least).
I am not saying this to be overly patriotic…in fact, I do not think you can be overly patriotic. I am not saying this because I think we should all grab a hot dog, a warm slice of apple pie, and flip on a baseball game today on opening day (GO INDIANS!) . I am saying this because so many times we are reminded that being a School Board Member is being a part of representative democracy at its most basic level. We are here in Orlando…we are able to serve and represent…because of the groundwork laid before us in the US and in our respective State, Territorial, or Tribal Constitutions. I am the grandson and great-grandson of immigrants…I love this country, and all of the blessings that it has bestowed upon me and my family. There is nothing I would not do for it.
So, back to the whole religious thing…
As I mentioned earlier, I am a Catholic. I mention this in the interest of full disclosure, because I believe that if you are going to discuss religion, it is only fair that you let everyone know where you are coming from. I go to Mass on Sunday, sometimes during the week, pray daily, carry a Rosary with me wherever I go, I have read my Bible from cover to cover, and so on.
However…and this is where one might think it gets sticky…I have taken that Oath to support and defend the Constitution and Laws of the United States and the State of Ohio (14 times since 1999 for various positions), and I find myself sometimes wondering if it is permissible, under the law, when we allow religious groups to use our facilities, when our performing arts groups sing songs that have a religious tone in nature, when people want to hand out copies of the New Testament on the street corner in front of our high school. Thank goodness, we have a terrific Superintendent and Legal Counsel that is willing and able to answer my questions every time I bring them up.
I am by no means anti-religion. I, however, am pro-Constitution. As a public official, I feel, almost that I would be derelict in my duties if I did not ask the questions I ask. One of the most important aspects of this job is to ensure that we are protecting the Constitution by all means necessary. I have been on public grounds and in public buildings where there have been activities held that, in my opinion, had too much of a religious overtone to them. At those events, I found myself saying “Can they do that?” For those of you who are West Wing fans, my favorite character, Josh Lyman (played by Bradley Whitford), was once quoted as saying “The founders did not want the government and religion within 10 city blocks of each other.” While I think that might be an extreme statement, I believe, there should be a “safe” distance between religion and government.
From time to time, our Board of Education approves facilities usage requests by religious organizations. I am more than happy to approve them, because I believe these entities are important pillars of our community, and if we can help them when they need additional room, it is the least we can do to say thank you for all of the help we receive from them. Our faith-based and community partners in our School District have done yeoman’s work in helping us with tutoring our students, with school levies, with volunteering at school events. The pastors and ministers in our District are great friends to our Board of Education, Administration, teachers, and most importantly, our students.
I also sometimes ask my Superintendent if certain songs can be sung by performance arts groups, because of their overtly religious overtone. Once again, in the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that I was a Member of the Bedford High School A Cappella Choir when I was a student at BHS, and yes, I questioned the songs then, too. However, it is because of my all-time favorite college professor, Dr. Steven O. Ludd, now Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, that I was able to see the picture a little clearer.
Prior to the beginning of my frosh year at BGSU, during my orientation and registration, my fellow incoming Falcons and I were taught the “Core values of Bowling Green State University.” The fifth one…the yellow one, for you Bowling Greeners…is “Intellectual and spiritual growth.” I got the first part of that one loud and clear…that was why I was there. I did not go to BG for a four year vacation, I was there for intellectual growth. But spiritual growth? Enter Professor Ludd (stage left).
Dr. Ludd is an unabashed Vermonter. He is not liberal…he is definitely not conservative…he is straight Vermonter. They are a breed of their own. Not New Hampshire “Live free or die”…just Vermont “Don’t take our rights away, and let us do what we do.” At the time I was at Bowling Green, the Board of Trustees was controlled by appointees of the current and previous Republican Governor (as of 1998 through 2002), and they had a penchant for towing the conservative line. (This is where I must say, friends, that I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal.) Bowling Green is a PUBLIC institution of education, however, in my eyes, and in the eyes of my dear professor, our beloved campus was going down a slippery slope of heading towards religion running the place.
If you must know, and I would be remiss if I did not mention that Dr. Ludd taught Constitutional Law, has four degrees from [The] Syracuse University [of New York] (that was for my classmates), and knows his Constitutional Law inside and out, forwards and backwards, and can and will take you to school on the issues of the day, especially if it deals with the First Amendment, State Action, or Discrimination. Dr. Ludd’s favorite thing to do is to challenge students on defending their position, and engaging them to go back and forth with each other to force both perspectives to the forefront and debate based upon the law and upon fact.
So, as a curious undergraduate, at 6:30 AM on a rainy Wednesday morning in the fall of 1999, I got up early (yeah, good luck finding any other college student up at that early hour), got dressed up (yes…shirt and tie, because you show this man the proper respect), and made the pilgrimage to his office to ask him “Dr. Ludd, how is it that all of these religious groups can use public facilities for their religious purposes and get away with it? How is it legal?” He then told me that he would tell me in a year, when I was a Junior, and took his Constitutional Law class.
And tell me, he did. He not only told me, but he told my classmates and dear friends, and for years, we have been debating it.
Here is what I remember…if the government has a piece of the action, no matter how big or small, it can be constituted and construed as a State action. This State action applies to government at all levels, whether it is a public university or a municipality or a special or school district. The real gray area is when and where an actual endorsement of religion takes place.
Now, the First Amendment of the Constitution tells us that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or the free exercise thereof…” and it was directed that the states shall also have this law by and through the 14th Amendment. At BG, I was starting to wonder if there was an “excessive entanglement” because the dozen or so religious groups were allowed to use public facilities and they were receiving funding from the Student Organizations Funding Board (which, are PUBLIC dollars given to the University by the tuition and taxpayers). Couple this with the fact that BGSU was beginning a “Visions and Values” initiative, they wanted students to sign some sort of pledge to the values, and they were creating “learning communities” based upon (allegedly) critical thinking and value-based education.
But I ask…whose values? My mom and dad, grandparents, friends, family and extended family, coaches, teachers, and others, including my religious leaders, taught me my values. They not only taught me my values, but instilled them in me and held me accountable. I did not need government-sponsored values; government-created values that were the vision of a conservative Board of Trustees who all repeat a mantra of everything that offends me.
Dr. Ludd taught us on the first day of class to question authority, and when it comes to issues related to the Constitution, question and question often.
I know that was a terribly long example, but thank you for bearing with me.
So, back to Bedford…and the music of our performing arts groups. My Superintendent, when I
ask her, is happy to remind me that if things are done in a historical context, or if there is an equal representation of a variety of religious sects, it is acceptable under the law. And I trust her. I trust my Superintendent’s explanation, as she would never do anything detrimental to the District.
And, as a person who considers himself to be socially liberal, I am in agreement with our Board Policy that allows community groups to have access to School District facilities when they are not being used by the District. Our school buildings are PUBLIC buildings…they belong to you…and you should have access to YOUR building. My colleagues and I are only the trustees of these seats and these buildings…they are the peoples’ houses at the level of government that is closest to them.
I also applaud the teachers who show how religion has affected our history as a people. Whether it is in the arts, history, the humanities, literature, and so on, religion has shaped the evolution of modern civilization. During my time as a student at BHS, I took AP European History as a Junior in order to prepare me for a strong curriculum geared in the social sciences when I became a college student. A component of the AP European History curriculum is the rise of the Catholic Church and religious orders; the Protestant reformation; and other religious-based topics. As a Catholic, and as a lector and altar server at my parish at that time, I volunteered to give the presentation to my class on religious orders. In my British Literature class that was paired with the AP European History class, we studied the King James Bible. I found this insightful because if the historical and comparative context it was presented. I would never object to that type of presentation.
What I would object to is an overtly religious presentation, favoring one group over another.
I also would not be supportive of strictly Intelligent Design-based science curriculum, as the only means and method of educating our children in the sciences. I believe that science should be taught based upon fact and fact alone. Now, if Intelligent Design is taught as part of the curriculum, so as to present a differing viewpoint, so our students are exposed to more than one line of thinking, then that is great.
With regards to prayer, it will never leave our public schools. Unless we get rid of giving tests (Sorry, students, I tried…tests are here to stay), we will never get rid of prayer in school. Moreover, unless it is guaranteed that our teams (I am really trying here, Bearcats) will win every game, match, meet, contest, competition, event, etc., we will never get rid of our students seeking divine intervention for extra wisdom, speed, strength, ability, and so on and so forth.
Once again, in the spirit of full disclosure, I pray before Board Meetings, I pray before I travel, I prayed before swim meets, and in my Senior yearbook (I have a feeling this picture will be found), there is a picture of me starting to make the Sign of the Cross before I got on the starting blocks at a swim meet. I pray for our legislators every time I am in Columbus at the Statehouse for them to do something to help public education, and I join them in prayer at the start of a session.
The American Nation was founded upon religious tolerance and religious freedom, and while many of our initial laws were based upon religious codes from an earlier time, we must continue to be cognizant of our duties to the Constitution and not infringing upon the rights of those who wish to exercise their religion.
My only worry is when public officials use the trappings of their office in order to promote religion. I get scared – genuinely scared – when a public official is behind a podium with a seal and microphone on it, a captive audience in front of them, and a camera on them and they say something that is overtly religious because they know they will not get called out on it. It is offensive, at least to me. Please do not impose your religious views on me, and I will not impose mine on you. Please do not force people to listen to your views on religion if they did not ask you for them. I was at an event recently where a public official did this exact thing, and I really felt bad for the audience, and thought that for some odd reason, the Constitution might be being trampled on at that very moment. I am fully aware that the First Amendment allows this individual to say what they said, however, as a Public Official, it may be looked at as an implied endorsement of religion by a government or governmental figure. I am NOT an attorney, but I have studied the Constitution for many years, and this is only my opinion based upon reading thousands of pages of text, research, cases, and other literature associated to the Constitution of the United States.
I could go on and on more about this, but I have rambled on plenty. Please know that my opinion piece on school vouchers will be forthcoming, now that I have broached the topic of religion.
Thank you for reading this really, really long posting. I really appreciate it.
-A. Mizsak
The thoughts and opinions offered in this blog posting are those exclusively of the Author, and are not the opinions, views, or thoughts collectively of the Bedford Board of Education, Bedford City School District, Ohio School Boards Association, and/or National School Boards Association, nor should these views be construed in any way as a legal opinion. Any comments and feedback should be directed to the author, Andrew Mizsak, at amizsak@sbcglobal.net
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