Two public high schools in Enfield, CT, hold their graduation ceremonies in The First Cathedral. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have requested that they change to a secular location, especially since apparently there are several that are less expensive and closer to the school. Enfield High School and Enrico Fermi High School, along with several other local public high schools, have been holding graduation at the church for several years. According to the article on the ACLU website, a large number of parents and students have protested, including 90 percent of Enfield’s high school graduating class voting against holding commencement there.

But the issue does not call for a vote. Even if the students unanimously voted to have graduation in a church, it is still illegal. Since the church is full of religious symbols and is clearly associated with a particular religion, it violates the separation of church and state outlined in our Constitution. The ACLU and Americans United intend to sue the high schools that are breaking the law. There are large crosses throughout the building, messages about Jesus clearly visible, and the graduation ceremonies are held in the sanctuary.

These public schools give the appearance of aligning themselves with a particular religion by choosing this venue. Some people may ask what harm could come from a room, but students and parents are put in an awkward position. A public school must follow the law, and associating itself with any religion breaks the first amendment. “School sponsorship of a religious message is impermissible because it sends the ancillary message to members of the audience who are non-adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community. ” (U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Santa Fe v. Doe, 2000). The government must remain neutral, because only then can we all have the freedom to practice, or not practice, our various religions.

“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion” (The Treaty of Tripoli ratified by John Adams, 1797), no one in a government position can deny the constitution by favoring the majority religion, or any religion. This event indicates Christianity’s privilege in our culture. I am not asserting that all people who identify as Christians act the same way, or hold the same opinions, but certain ideas and actions associated with Christianity are treated quite differently from other religious ideas. I feel that anyone can refer to a soul without gathering much attention, while speaking about auras might seem strange. Not to mention prayer in public schools, which unfairly forces divisions between students, and marginalizes religious minorities. Individual students are allowed to pray silently, which is their right, but school officials cannot lead a prayer in any tradition. At my high school prom, our principal led the entire group in a Christian prayer before dinner. Perhaps it was technically voluntary, of course I didn’t participate, but especially for younger children, it is difficult to not go along with what your teacher is doing. The value of prayer is not the issue, it is that religious diversity is not respected by prayer in public schools. Religion is the realm of families and individuals, not something the government should have any position on, other than to protect the right to free practice of religions. The public schools are part of the government, and therefore, for the sake of diversity and our freedoms, religion can have no place there.

I feel that these people lost sight of the respect they owe to non-Christians in their schools. Any indication that one religion is preferred over another, whether explicit or implicit, is unfair. This is an issue of respecting the diversity of religion in the United States. Every individual at those high schools should feel as if their religion does not set them apart from the others and that they are still welcome at the graduation ceremony. The religious majority cannot disregard the presence of other faiths, no matter how minutely represented. Its normalcy subsumed the desires of others, because ideas based in Christianity permeate our culture, becoming the norm, the accepted, and the dominating. We are too diverse to allow this false perception to continue, and we cannot forget that the Constitution, our government, and our public schools, must remain separated from religion.

– Bridget Liddell

Interfaith Scholar 2009-2011

Published in the January 2010 Issue of the Interfaith Review