Christian Counseling Blog and Podcast

Today’s public schools have removed God from the classroom. 

In 1962, the Engel v. Vitale ruling determined that “it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools.”

The next year, 1963, the Abington School District v. Schempp ruling decided that “public schools cannot sponsor Bible readings and recitations of the Lord's Prayer.” 

In 1980, the Stone v. Graham ruling struck down a state requirement to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms, finding that “the posting was clearly religious” and served no secular educational function.

The Supreme Court rulings on these three cases were made based on the belief that there should be no official religion in public schools, in the United States government, or in state government. 

The Influence of Thomas Jefferson

This idea comes from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in response to a letter he received from The Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut who wrote to him in October 1801 to congratulate him on his presidency. As a minority religious group in Connecticut, the Baptists worried that their basic religious freedoms were treated as government favors rather than inalienable rights.

Jefferson responded by writing “religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship.” He also stated that he believed that “the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions.” Lastly he praised the First Amendment for “thus building a wall of separation between church and state.” 

Jefferson used his reply to outline his strict view of the First Amendment, assuring them that the federal government would not establish a national religion or interfere with their worship. It is important to note that this letter is not a part of the Declaration, Constitution, or Bill of Rights as many on the left imply. It is Jefferson’s personal opinion. The notion of “separation of church and state” does not exist in any United States government documents.

While I agree with Jefferson’s first two quotes, the third one takes a lot of liberty with the First Amendment. Here is the actual First Amendment which addresses religion:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” 

Congress cannot establish or prohibit a religion. Individuals, families, churches, towns, counties, businesses, and schools are all free to establish or prohibit a religion and Congress cannot stop them from doing so. This is the exact opposite of what the three Supreme Court verdicts state. These three rulings defy “the establishment clause” of the First Amendment by overruling the schools in their desire to honor a religion.

What the Bible Says

The three rulings about religion in schools depend on the belief that if Christian religion was removed from the classroom no other religion would take its place. However that is not how things actually worked out nor should it have been expected based on what God has told us about humankind. In Romans 1:25 He states:

“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.”

This passage tells us that humans are inherently religious and driven to worship. The question is never if a person worships, but what they choose to worship. It indicates that if an individual chooses not to honor God, he will naturally redirect that innate devotion toward other things, including oneself. 

Contrary to what the Supreme Court justices thought, when the Christian religion was removed from our public schools, rather than removing religion from our schools and from our culture overall, it just redirected the drive to worship. Humanity shifted its ultimate allegiance, awe, and affection from God to worldly things. This contributed to the growing influence of secular humanism and atheism as dominant world views in our culture.

Confusion has Resulted

Humanism and atheism naturally lead to the idea that a boy can become a girl and vice versa. It is the opposite of God’s statement in Genesis 1:27 that He would make mankind in His own image, male and female. Students are now told that they can make themselves in whatever image they would like. 

With Christianity removed from the schools, students are deprived of the understanding that they have inherent value as beings created in God’s image. Therefore how they behave shouldn’t matter. When students are no longer taught that every person bears God's image, they lose an important foundation for understanding human dignity and moral responsibility. This contributes to confusion about identity, purpose, and how we ought to treat one another. 

Today’s schools teach a worldview in which meaning and purpose are ultimately matters of personal choice. Students are told that they evolved from single-celled organisms, are little different from monkeys, that there is no absolute truth - only “your truth” and “my truth”, and that they can choose to be a boy or girl regardless of their genetics. 

Of course this impact is not just limited to schools. It has affected our entire society. The number of Americans who state they don’t believe in God or go to a formal church has increased. Humans are inherently religious and driven to worship. Thus when they don’t honor God, people naturally redirect that innate devotion toward created things. 

What can we do about this?

Psalm 8 presents a radically different view of humanity. Instead of teaching that life is meaningless, it reveals a majestic Creator who gives human beings dignity, purpose, and responsibility. 

Here is Psalm 8:

1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory 

above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your 

enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which 

you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and 

honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

In Verses 1 & 2 we hear of God’s creative majesty and of His well deserved exaltation. Verses 3 & 4 are humbling as they tell us of humankind’s comparative lowliness in contrast to the glories of nature created by God and they ask why God bothers to care about us. Verses 5 & 6 tell us how, despite our smallness, God has honored us and given us the task of ruling over all of His creation. And verses 7 & 8 remind us again of God’s majesty.

We see how Psalm 8 humbles and honors mankind at the same time. This is the opposite of what our students are being taught. They are told that there is no meaning to their lives and that they have no eternal significance. Often schools allow them to do whatever they want - misbehavior, violence, changing their sex, or any other creative options they can think of. 

Psalm 8 also humbles us as we see the beauty and enormity of God’s creation. When we look at the beauty of the night sky or stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls we feel our smallness and God’s greatness. And this gives us a sense of meaning. We know that God made all of this and that He made us as well to enjoy its beauty and to care for it. This is the opposite of being told that life is meaningless.

At the same time God honors us. He has made mankind a little lower than the angels. And to save us from our sin He humbled Himself to send His Son in human form to live a perfect life in our place and die on the cross for our sins. Greek religious beliefs at the time dishonored the body and honored the spirit. But Yahweh shows us that He values our body as well as our spirit by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering (Philippians 2:3-11).

Knowing the truth about God and His majesty as well as His purpose in creating us is where our worth and value come from. When children were taught this in school and were told that they and their classmates were beings of infinite worth who should treat their classmates with respect, requiring good behavior from them was more consistent with their understanding of humanity. Knowing that there was a God who created them and gave them a job to do gave them purpose and meaning in their lives and led to much better behavior.

Our culture tells young people that meaning must be invented. Scripture tells us that meaning has already been given by the God who created us. We were made in His image, crowned with dignity, entrusted with responsibility, and ultimately redeemed through Jesus Christ. When we understand who God is, we finally understand who we are. That truth gives us purpose, hope, and a firm foundation for life 

For the director of music. According to gittith. [1] A psalm of David.

1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!