The issue of religion in public schools is messy at best.
How can public schools refrain from respecting a particular establishment of religion while also respecting the right of its students to worship freely?
Public schools, as agents of the government, are bound by the same limitations placed on other state institutions by the First Amendment.
Originally, the Bill of Rights applied only to Congress, but after years of case law, it now applies to state and local governments.
This issue recently arose in a case out of Rhode Island in which a 16-year-old atheist student challenged the display of a mural bearing an obviously religious prayer at her high school.
Jessica Ahlquist, the student, has taken the school district to court in an attempt to get the mural taken down, which she says is "offensive" to non-Christians.
While the "offensiveness" of the mural is quite subjective, the fact that the mural hangs in the public school and begins with the phrase "Our Heavenly Father" and ends with "Amen" indicates the school has overstepped its constitutional obligations.
The school has argued that the mural is meant to represent the history of the school rather than respect a particular religion, given that the banner was presented by the Class of 1963, the first to graduate from the school.
While representing the history of the school is fine, a couple of things are problematic about this mural. First, the top of the banner reads "School Prayer," indicating the prayer is not that of the Class of 1963 but that of the school. If it read "Class Prayer of 1963," the school might have an argument to preserve its history.
Second, the attorney representing the city has claimed, given the historical significance of the mural, that it is displayed as a secular, nonreligious artifact.
But as it hangs now, the banner's religious content does violate the First Amendment rights of nonreligious students at this high school. Regardless of the intentions of the school, the display indicates the school is respecting the establishment of religion.
While the complete removal of the prayer from the wall might be unnecessary, the school should look into ways of removing any ties between the school and religious affiliation.
A simple answer would be to place a disclaimer at the bottom of the mural indicating its origin.
If the state is going to force compulsory education among its younger residents, it should ensure that no beliefs (or lack thereof) are alienated.
