The Ones Whose Words are Silenced

History, rumors, stories, what happened last weekend, who just broke up with who, gossip, the latest thing, God... Wait, stop. We can't go that far. But why can't we? Will someone be offended because he/she has conflicting beliefs? Will someone accuse another of "forcing" his/her beliefs upon that individual? Will someone bully another with titles such as "Jesus Freak", "prude", and so on and so forth? People everywhere, inside a school building and meandering out on the sidewalks, all have their own individual ideals, values, and beliefs, so disagreements are bound to surface in every community; it can't be helped.

Does this make it right for students, the ones about to finally begin their own lives in our community, any community, to daily be stripped of their First Amendment right of free speech before they even get to apply it to the real world? The phrase "separation of church and state" in the First Amendment embeds the idea that students like myself whose voices are clawing at their sealed mouths that it is okay to live life "in the crowd" without being able to let the colors of passion trickle from their lips, granting those students strength, faith, and individuality.

Not being able to let "religious talk" into our schools also is withering away yet another First Amendment right; the right to assemble. Most teachers or principals will tense up if you surface the idea of a religion-based club or organization within a public school. Some teachers who are strong in a specific faith concur to the idea of constructing such organizations. Those are the teachers you must seek out if you desire to spark up a club based on religious faith, for you must have a sponsor to provide supervision to each after-school activity.

I have witnessed an after-school bible study at Fort Zumwalt North High School that to my knowledge still occurs every Wednesday afternoon. The sponsor; she just sat quietly and kept to herself in the corner of the room. Finding a sponsor for a religious club like this is possible, just he/she is forbidden from vocalizing his/her opinion on the subject.

Pretty much it would be a class run by students because the teacher has to keep his/her mouth shut for once, unless things get out of hand of course. Every kid's dream, right?

Others may say that planting religion-based organizations within schools will build social boundaries between students, creating "clicks". Now, instead of having just your "band geeks" and "drama freaks", schools would now have groups of "die hard Christians" and "rebellious Atheists". One issue with this theory: don't we already have those titles lingering around schools? They just aren't as lucid throughout the halls.

Truth is,

life is full of judgement.

It's going to happen.

Yet, what really struck me is the research I pursued on what I thought was a physical law; the separation of church in state.

Oh, guess what? It's not.

This idea is only a phrase Thomas Jefferson used when writing the First Amendment of the United States Constitution that many people today mistake for an actual law. To sum up what he had written, Jefferson stated that you cannot be forced to practice a certain religion, you cannot be prohibited from practicing the religion you choose, and that no religion can increase or reduce your civil rights, as well as no law can be religious-based. Hmmm, okay. Well if a student decides to start up a bible study, locates a willing sponsor, allows it to be open to the entire school, has the students sign a form agreeing that this is an open room for opinion and discussion, and that you are coming on your own will, therefore not being "forced", would this continue to follow the First Amendment as well as redeem us of our rights we were given to begin with?

The sooner students and adults realize that there will always be conflicting opinions to just about every ideal or belief, the sooner everyone as a whole will be able to become more tolerant and less shaken by the thought of actually being able to speak those opinions without being accused of wanting to change the rest of society. Anyone out there, have you ever had something you passionately believed in? Something you would fight for? Well, now you understand my passion, so go stand up for yours. It's as easy as just rounding up a small group of close friends and igniting a revolution of individualistic faith throughout your school. Ponder this: is your faith worth fighting for, or should you continue to be "in the crowd", continuing to be one whose words are silenced?