Religion RIghts

I think one of the most interesting statistics from the First Amendment surveys was that of the first question. I am shocked that in 2001 only 1% of the American nation could name specific rights guaranteed for right to petition. While the number is now 6%, this is not even close to acceptable. These statistics reveal that the citizens of the United States do not even know their guaranteed rights. From the time this survey began, there has not been one category in which even 65% of people knew their rights from the First amendment. I am also surprised that only 48% of people believe that there must be a clear separation from church and state. All the statistics in general gave me the eye-opener that many Americans are not informed of their rights. In addition, I learned that many people have strong opinions for and against different views and how important religion is to people.
According to Charles C. Haynes, “the challenge for 21st-century America is not only to sustain this extraordinary arrangement, but to expand the principles of religious liberty more fairly and justly to each and every citizen.” I believe that this task is extremely difficult as we have such a diverse society in terms of religion. While this is hard, it is very significant. We must educate students about their rights and responsibilities of the First amendment, and then we endanger the future of our religious rights. Fortunately, a new model has emerged for addressing religion and religious liberty in public schools. While it is difficult to discuss, we must talk about it in order to educate others. If we do not, then we cannot blame others for what may happen in the future. I chose to examine the idea of evolution and creation on the website. This debate has been in existence for longer than a century. It has caused and continues to cause a debate in science, religion and constitutional law. While we have all learned about Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution based on scientific evidence, I did not realize how much uproar it caused. The ideas he proposed said that a man evolved from animals including apes. When a science teacher John Scopes explained the idea of evolution in a school setting, there was a court case. I believe that Scopes had every right to express the ideas. He did not pressure students, but rather presented possibilities. The Scopes trial ended without a court declaration that the Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution was unconstitutional. While this case was over 80 years ago, the debate continues. While there are still questions regarding the science and religion of our existence, there is still discussion about the First Amendment in schools. The question is whether schools should be able to teach intelligent design alongside evolution in science.  I believe it should be allowed to be taught because education is not one-sided. Exposing students to many different ideas and opinions is an important aspect to education.