Religion in the Public Schools: An Introduction
In Religion in the Public Schools, McMillan argues that the legal and appropriate relationship of religion to public education in our nation is embodied in religion studies. While many opportunities exist in the child’s daily life for acts of religious devotion outside the public schools, the education of the child in many important academic areas is incomplete apart from religion studies.
In developing this thesis, McMillan takes a fundamentally legal approach to the religion-government relationship in America. From a variety of possible approaches, the legal frame of reference was selected because, in a pluralistic society, given the idea of religious liberty to which the country is constitutionally dedicated, solutions that will protect the rights of all persons can be found only in a legal context.
McMillan provides an introduction to the religion-government relationship, particularly as it has developed in this nation; presents a legal definition of religion based upon the dicta of the United States Supreme Court; discusses the evolution of the present relationship of religion to public education; supplies, in edited form, the major decisions of the Supreme Court that address this relationship; and investigates the possibilities of religion studies in public education. In a final chapter, McMillan outlines the religious leader’s possible role in religion-public education controversies.
Richard C. McMillan is Professor of Medical Ethics and Humanities, Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon, Georgia.