I don't even think 'hand out bibles, then represent ALL religions!' is a legitimate argument. First of all, who decides which religions get their material handed out? There are literally thousands upon thousands of religions in the world--some are obviously more popular than others, but it would be absolutely totally impossible to let people come around to hand out material on every religion. Do you just pick the ones represented in the school population? That way lies madness. Every time someone new moves to the area, or someone converts, then you have to invite ANOTHER religious representative to come to the campus to hand out holy books or whatever. And what if there's an outcry from a small, but vocal, group within the community who believe in a religion that's completely crackpot or in some way dangerous? Scientology leaps to mind, but there are others--after all, cults aren't unheard of--and there's every possibility you might get someone who actually believes they're a Jedi. What do you do in that case, if your rule is to represent EVERY religion? You can't very well turn them away but at the same time there is absolutely no way you can defend or justify letting that kind of lunacy onto a school campus.
Obviously this is just a slippery slope fallacy but it is worth thinking about. Saying you have to include every religion to make it fair just doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
In any case, I don't think religion of any kind belongs on a public school campus. Unless there is a serious, unbiased class being taught on religions, which is completely different than letting people hand out scripture to the students. Religion is a personal matter and something that should be left up to everyone to decide for themselves. Allowing Gideons to pass out bibles on school grounds is like allowing people from the makeup counter at JC Penny give girls makeovers at recess--there's nothing wrong with wearing makeup and there's nothing wrong with deciding to be a Christian, but these are things that have NOTHING to do with school or education, should be something everyone decides for themselves to participate in or not, and the last thing you want is for kids to feel pressured into either of them.
You make a lot of good points here, Cait. I'd like to address some of them here, if I may. These aren't meant to be read as any more than just one Rookie's thoughts on various matters, so please don't dig too far past the surface. Also, these are POVs from the U.S., so if it works differently in your country, OK. But I'm focusing more on the States here.
You say you disagree with the whole premise that any religious material should be on school grounds. I heartily agree, but there are way too many christians who believe they get heavenly room upgrades for conversions or something, so they will bother people. It's an imperfect world we live in and these asshats are going to be there no matter what. I think what WW was going for was a little bit more, regulation isn't the word I'm looking for, but it's the best I can come up with while working on my second cup of coffee this morning.
Your thoughts on all religions being represented, interesting. But I would say if the Gideons can show up, than anyone who has literature can follow suit. Make Fridays Tract Days or something. Anyone who has had their material checked out to make sure there is no hate speech can pass out their [insert derogatory noun here]. There is still religious freedom, even (at least nominally) for students. There should probably be some sort of background check or something to make sure the (presumably) adults' records are clean. But I'm sure whatever outreach ministry can work with the local school jurisdictions to sort all that out. So the Scientologists can pass out whatever they want as long as my Rooklets can throw them away.
Ignoring the slippery slope argument (because I know you feel pretty much the same as I do on Slippery Slopes), I would think it does stand up to scrutiny. It just needs to be organized. Like, maybe every Friday whoever has registered can wander the cafeteria and hand out their fliers during lunchtimes. Anyone outside the set times or places can be dealt with by the police officers who seem to be milling about schools. Or if needs be, set up a couple days. So the Baptists, Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, and Jedis can have Monday lunches. Methodists, Amish, Satanists, Tuesdays. And so on. The problems I can see would be it would get annoying for the kids. And the religious reps would have to behave like adults around the other reps. But as long as the grown ups act like it, there shouldn't be any serious problems. The other thing is I would probably suggest waiting until middle school before exposing the students to all the competing religions. Elementary school is too young for most kids.
Sure, the kids would be pressured to join these different religions. But that's what the parents are for. The adults in the kids' lives have to be involved. Yes, I know the world isn't perfect. I know that sometimes there is only one parent and s/he works. And the car is in the shop and...and...and... But whoever is in charge of the kids has that responsibility to talk to them about what goes on in school.
Your argument that if it isn't about the school or education, it shouldn't be at the school. What value do proms bring to education? Why are schools voting places in a number of communities? I had to walk past the military recruiters every day on my way to classes. I'm not trying to dismiss your point. I just wanted to say it already happens.
