Why is the educational establishment in the USA afraid of Christianity.?

They say that ignorance and fear are the parents of prejudice which is why I worded my question the way I have.

Teachers are allowed to present information on Muslim holidays and Jewish holidays. They are free to teach about Hinduism and Bubbhism and perform seances in the classroom and there is no objection by the ACLU or any other "separation of church and state" advocates. But if they dare to talk about Christianity (even if it is presented along with the beliefs of other religions) those same advocates act as if tragedy has struck. Athiest parents complain and the ACLU files a lawsuit.

Last month Viroqua High School in Viroqua, WI can celled it's Diversity Day which was to include the viewpoints of several eastern religions and those of homosexuals. They can celled it because they were informed by The liberty Counsel that they could not exclude Christian and former homosexual speakers. The only press was a story in the local paper. The school declined to answer my ?s.
the words "separation of Church and State" are not in the constitution and the founding fathers supported the reading of the bible in the classroom.

"The congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools." 1782 declaration of the Congress of the United States.

"We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

?It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by coreligionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.? Patrick Henry
"We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments." James Madison (Primary Author of the U.S. Constitution)
at hedge
By educational Establishment I mean leadership within teachers unions, school administrators and The attitudes of many teachers especially professors at Universities.
john_stalwart

My concern is that Christianity is not presented along side the views of other religions.
Jefferson was in the minority of founding fathers in many of his opinions including those regarding religion.

In addition he took no part in the constitutional congress. He was touring Europe when the constitution was written and signed.

The words from the letter are Jefferson's personal opinion but have no legal standing. In addition they were taken out of context.

As for the diplomatic letter you are talking about, if you could provide a link to it I would appreciate. I collect this kind of information.
athedge

On the contrary, All Americans have the right to their own beliefs. Part of that is listening to the beliefs and being exposed to the religious practices of others in every day life.

This means that in order to protect your right to your beliefs you must tolerate the Christian co-worker who talks about God and reads the bible in the breakroom, but it does not compel you to believe in God. You must tolerate the muslim classmate who lays out a prayer shawl and prays in the middle of a student lounge, but you do not have to agree with his or her beliefs. It means that your child will have to listen to the words "under God" being said in the Pledge of Allegience, but it does not compel them to say the pledge. It means that all religions no matter what their beliefs or how familiar they are to the general public must be equally represented at government sponsored events.

Compulsory inclusion of Christian views does not equal compulsion to accept or believe Christianity.
By the way. The 1782 declaration was not from the Congress of the United States. The congress mentioned was the Constitutional Congress. The declaration was a clarification of the founders intentions. Therefore it is binding in the interpretation of the Constitution of the United States which last I heard is supposed to be the law of the land.

b/c Christianity started with violence grew with violence and has caused way too much violence so instead of end it with violence we are go in the slow wear and tear path

I only think religion should be taught from a historical view like how organized religions around the world have effected us. Organized religions have always separated people and always will.

You're doing a lot of generalizing, there ("atheist parents", "seances in the classroom"?).

It sounds like Viroqua H.S. is afraid of diversity, not Christianity.

You live in the land of hypocrisy, not diversity. It's very good that you are perceiving this now, so you will know.

Diversity in this country is not granted, nor encouraged. It is tolerated, usually only after a battle, sometimes legal battle, sometimes a bloody battle (IE: black Americans, Chicanos, women's suffrage). It's not the educational system in isolation, although you are seeing it displayed beautifully there. It's the entire structure of the country; it's the national culture.

They are not afraid of Christianity. Public schools are just that - public. That means they are supported by the tax dollars of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Atheists, etc. Therefore, to discuss Christianity, they need to give equal time to all the others. It's an "all or nothing" proposition. While I agree that Christians should have been included in "Diversity Day", I do have a problem with the "former homosexual" speakers. Homosexual is homosexual. If you are a "former homosexual", then you were never a homosexual to begin with.

edit:I do agree that if you are talking about other religions, Christianity needs to DE discussed, also. As a Christian, I prefer to learn about Christ from my pastor, who has studied extensively, rather than a teacher who read a few chapters of a text book.

I will add a few other quotes:
George Washington & John Adams, in a diplomatic message to Malta, said "The United States is in no way founded upon the Christian religion."

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, said, "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."

"Seperation of Church and State" actually derives from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a group identifying themselves as the Danbury Baptists. In that letter, Jefferson referred to a "wall of separation between church and state."

First, the public educational establishment of the US is not afraid of anything. It is either permitted or disallowed to do something. An "establishment" as a collective does not carry a unified human emotion.

Therefore, the question should be, "Why is the public educational establishment in the US not allowed to discuss Christianity?" And the answer is, it is not, so as long as it is not promoting the religion. Within America's public educational system, we are allowed to discuss the history of Christianity and the reasons for it coming into being in an analytical way (and we do), just as we are allowed to discuss Judaism, Islam, or any other religion to simply teach students the sources/reasons/beliefs of the religion in a non-proselytizing, informative way. If classes in public-education facilities hold these kinds of discussions, it is constitutionally permissible. If they proselytize or perform religious ceremonies, they have crossed the line. (I have not heard of any public school holding a seance, but if it did occur, it is crossing the line and should not be permitted.)

Christians in this country are frustrated because we are an 86% Christian nation with largely Christian morals but we do not promote that aspect of our culture in public schools. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, and other Muslim countries, schools often are used to promote and enforce the Muslim doctrine, making their religious fervor much more passionate and inflammatory than our own. Some believe this makes them stronger, or at least more threatening, than an America that is not "united" behind its morals.

To understand the difference between us and them, you have to go back to 1776 when our country was founded. At that point, America had come into being because of religious persecution abroad. This is why we are all here. Our founding fathers (absolute political and philosophical geniuses in spite of whatever flaws they possessed) decided that the best way to preserve our country was to separate the "crown" from the church. Specifically, they decide to eliminate the religious influence (which had plagued England, Italy, France, everywhere) from government, thus guaranteeing that their fledgling country would not crumble because of religious divisions (various Christian factions were making up the myriad colonies that were America at that time). This was a truly brilliant decision, and it worked. By not favoring one Christian sect over another, the fragile new country America was preserved and grew to be a great world power.

Today, we still do not promote one religious belief over another, no matter how much of a majority one faith's adherents can claim among the population. For one, religious beliefs entail a morality, and among American Christians there is hardly a consensus on issues like abortion, sex before marriage, homosexuality, ET Tera. To preach "Christianity" in a school is to preach the morals of a select group of Americans, thus dividing the country and risking civil war. This is what has happened in the Muslim countries mentioned above, all of which are constantly teetering on the brink of governmental collapse.

It is the constitutional separation of Church and State that makes us a strong country. We are strong because we are free. If we were less free, we would be weakened by our internal struggles. Secularism, believe it or not, is the greatest form of patriotism.

ADDENDUM--per some of the responses logged by this poster since first posting the question.

1) It does not surprise me that many of our founding fathers supported the use of the bible as a teaching tool in our classrooms. At the time, the only governmental favoritism they had to worry about was one Christian sect over another, and teaching the bible would have been something everyone could agree on. Things have changed since then, however, and the wide variances in religious belief mandate a more neutral stance.

2) A declaration of congress in 1782 is in no way binding today.

3) You say that Christianity "is not presented along side the views of other religions". This shouldn't matter to you in the least, unless by "presenting views" you mean proselytizing. If people seem more inclined to teach or inform of the tenets of non-Christian religions, it is because most American students know very little of non-Christian religions. How informative is it to talk about the history, culture, or mores of Christianity? These are well known, even to secular families. The reason you feel that Christianity is being excluded is that you believe other religions are being "preached" and you want Christianity preached as well. No religion should ever be preached in a public school.

4) "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people," says John Adams. Respectfully, I disagree. For one thing, the constitutional principle forbidding "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibits us from torturing convicted murderers for the fun of it. But for me, the most important question is, Where am I supposed to go then? As a baptized Catholic that no longer believes in the existence of God, where should I go? Europe? Darn it all, I don't speak the language, and whether they like it or not, they are still a Christian society. Canada? Eh...too cold. I am assuming that you hold Adams' words in high esteem, so perhaps you can answer this question for me: Did I suddenly cease to be an American when I lost my faith? If so, please let me know. There are many tax dollars I wish to reclaim.

Christianity is faith based and centered on a risen Savior. Those that have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior do not comprehend this faith, therefore cannot explain it. Since they cannot explain this faith that Christians possess, it scares them. Therefore, it is easier to condemn and shy away from Christians and Christianity then to accept those that have this faith.

True Christians are peace loving people that follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. (Key words: True Christians) These teaching are against what non Christians want to practice and how they choose to live. They fear that Christians will change the way they want to live, and so they spend their lives running from this faith based religion.

Personally, if I had never met Jesus Christ, I truly believe I would be praying to do so. I had rather leave this world believing that Jesus is the Son of God, and find out I was right... than to leave this world not believing and find out I was wrong.