Tom Cabaniss is the senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Tom earned a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University and he received his doctorate from Reformed Theological Seminary. I had the privilege to ask Tom about his point of view on Religion in the Schools. In a series of questions Tom shared his perspective on how he viewed what the rights of the First Amendment meant when stated, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Tom responds by saying that he suspects that the writers anticipated that religious instruction would be part of the daily curriculum for students. They would have likely embraced the Christian perspective for that instruction. The writers probably would have seen religious instruction as valuable for character and citizenship development. The founders may never have envisioned a society as diverse and as pluralistic as ours. They would have envisioned a nation with varying shades of Christianity and not entirely different religions. With all the different religions in America today, the government has to be careful not to favor one at the expense of others.
The words that James Madison wrote in the First Amendment have left room for debate. In regards to this he believes that Madison meant that the government was not to adopt an official religion or a state-sponsored religion. The government was to step aside and allow people to worship and practice their faith as they believed to be right and good. Government should not create any laws or obstacles that infringe upon an individual's choice to worship God. The original founders believed that our rights came from God. As such, those rights could not be taken away by any king or government. By creating the First Amendment, the founders made it clear just how limited government was with respect to religion. It seems that Madison delegated all religious matters to religious organizations.
When asked if he felt that religion needs to be a part of the educational system, he replied that his bias would be for a Christian influence to be present in the schools. But not everyone is a Christian. Not every community has a Christian majority so religious instruction probably does not need to have an active place in the schools. Tom doubts that there would be any consensus of opinions. He would not want his children to be taught the values of Islam or Hinduism as a way for living. Schools should be respectful of individual faiths. He senses that there is more antagonism toward Christianity than other religions. Tom think schools should refrain from actively criticizing Christian beliefs and expressions. He noted however that he believed that all religions could be taught as a matter of education. The different histories and beliefs of world religions could be studied along with their influence and values. A comparison of various religions and their belief systems would be one way of handling how to teach various religions within the educational system.
Realizing that history is full of religious acts and events but it is not taught in the school system Tom feels that historic events should be taught in the schools whether or not they have religious significance. For example, the Protestant Reformation was a major event in Western Europe. It should be taught as a defining event. Tom doesn’t necessarily think we should take events in the Bible and teach them in a classroom nor would he want his children to study events from the Koran. The birth of Jesus could be taught since Tom feels that this is the most influential historical figure of all time.
While having a community of many Protestant denominations represented, Catholic churches, independent, and non-denominational churches, Tom believes that the issues involving religion in the school has not been much of an issue for his church or community. His church is overwhelmingly Christian and would likely not have any controversies separating them. The religious community, he believes, varies by denomination or church and probably by individuals on the idea that the religious community has a one-size fits all stand on the issue of separation of church and state. Most people, he explains, arrive at those stands without any assistance. He has no doubt there would ever be a single standard that would satisfy everyone.
Prayer, religious holiday, religious celebrations, changing the name of religious celebrations, the Pledge of Allegiance, and behavior problems were also topics that Tom weighed his opinion in on. In reference to prayer in the schools, Tom would support a time of silence each day allowing students to pray or not to pray. He had no problem with recognizing the various religious days and/or holidays and what they meant historically. He did not believe that celebration names, such as Christmas break to Winter break, for example, should be changed to be more sensitive to the diverse religious cultures of the school. In various systems in different parts of the country, counties can name the breaks in a way that fits their community.
Tom does support allowing the Pledge of Allegiance in the school system. To say that behavioral problems within the school system stems from the lack of religious guidance in the schools is too simplistic for Tom. He thinks that problems arise from poor teaching environments, poor parental support and involvement, a lack of discipline at home, low expectations, and a failure for parents to be actively engaged in their kid’s education and school.
Tom has children of his own but yet he would not put his children in a private/religious-affiliated school due to a lack of religious environment in the public educational system. The choice for parents to put their children in a parochial school has no bearing economically either on the public schools because parents still pay taxes that go to support the public school systems. Citizens in North Carolina are still taxed regardless of where their children go to school. His point of view regarding how the United States stacks up to other countries when it comes to religion in the schools is one that he feels we as a country are careful not to engage in indoctrination. Families and churches should be responsible for a kid's primary religious instruction. In the US, we tend to look to families, churches and individual Christians to carry the weight of something as personal as one's faith and religious views. (T. Cabaniss, personal communication, February 26, 2012)