Separation of Church and State and What it Means for Holidays

Separation+of+Church+and+State.+

Graphic created by Addy Welz

Separation of Church and State.

Within Loudoun County, there are many people who have different faiths and religions. At Freedom High School, there is a very diverse community, but most people within the community are not educated on the different religions and religious holidays that surround them.

A major issue that rises when talking about different religions in school is the separation of church and state. 

The separation of church and state states that the government should stay neutral to all religions and not recognize or favor any one religion. One place that religion is to be left out of is schools, with the exception of religious study classes and historical classes. 

Although there is the separation of church and state, there are obvious favors of certain religions and religious holidays within the school. Certain holidays are constantly talked about and even celebrated within the classrooms while others are never mentioned. 

Within some classrooms teachers put up decorations for the holidays that they celebrate while they do not take the time to mention other holidays. 

“I find it to be very upsetting when the staff overlook the different holidays and make comments about how it’s a random holiday when they do not celebrate it,” said an FHS, who asked to stay anonymous.