I am an atheist, and I believe that religion should not be in the classrooms; it has to be in the churches. In the classrooms, you have to form citizenship, not people with religious beliefs, that corresponds to the private sphere.
Since the association of seasonal activities with religious activities in the public schools tends to pervert their religious significance, such association be discouraged as foreign to the purpose of the public schools.
We know that violent measures against religion are nonsense; but this is an opinion: as socialism grows, religion will disappear. Its disappearance must be done by social development, in which education must play a part.
I do not believe that any type of religion should ever be introduced into the public schools of the United States.
The Supreme Court has continually been zealous in protecting the right of school children to be free from sectarian influence by school authorities. Thus, practices which may be acceptable for an adult audience or a public forum may be unacceptable for public schools where attendance is mandatory and the desire to conform is typical among youth of such age.
What role should religion play in the American public school classroom? My own knee-jerk response would be, 'none whatsoever,' but the Constitution isn't quite so direct on the subject.
We know that if religion is allowed into schools, pupils will sometimes begin to question the teaching they receive.
I've been in elementary education for years and my belief is that Christmas pageants in schools are little more than conditioning kids for the Christian religion.
