Religion is a Good Source of Knowledge

After looking at the polls completed during the 2010 core questions survey, it made me realize how little people know about the issues having to do with freedom of speech and religion. Only 23% of the people asked in the survey knew that freedom of religion is a specific right guaranteed by the First Amendment. I was surprised by many of the answers to the questions in the survey. The question that surprised me the most was the one about the president proclaiming a day of prayer. 58% of the people strongly agreed that this day should happen. If the president performed a Christian prayer for the nation, then that would make it seem like America was a Christian nation. I think that people around America who are not Christian would feel uncomfortable that the leader of their nation was praying for a religion their practice. America is supposed to be a country with no one religion, and having a Christian day of prayer would contradict that policy.
A really important aspect over the debate of freedom of religion is how much religion should be taught in public schools. One article that I read talked about the importance of religion in public schooling. Religion has been a big part of different art, literature, movies, and more. It has always played a big role in history over the years, and without it being taught students will lose a whole aspect of history and culture. There have been controversies in the past whether to determine if a teacher is teaching about a religion, or preaching about a religion. In my classes in the past there has always been a definite line between teaching and preaching. I am glad that I have gotten to learn about different religions besides my own because it gave me a good grasp of different cultures and how religion has influenced history.