Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Trying to silence the silence

A law requiring a daily moment of silence in Illinois Public Schools has been challenged by an atheist father of a 14-year -old student.

Robert Sherman and his daughter Dawn filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the law be deemed unconstitutional.

Gregory Kulis , the lawyer for the father and daughter, says that the law is an attempt to insert religion into public schools which is in violation of the First Amendment.

"What we object to is Christians passing a law that requires the public school teacher to stop teaching during instructional time, paid for by the taxpayers, so that Christians can pray," Sherman told The Associated Press.

This article does not provide enough information to illustrate just how “religious” this moment of silence actually is. However, I believe we all can benefit from a moment or two of peace at the beginning of our day to start it off well.

I am not alone in my confusion. The article does state how some school administrators argue the law too ill-defined and some teachers and students are put in an awkward position.

Silence is awkward, but it is also golden. I think we need to challenge all our youth to spend time reflecting on themselves and their world.

Please check out USA Today for more information.