GOD IN SCHOOLS

Here is an example -- there are many to choose from -- about what has happened in our society. It has to do with God: Can he be mentioned in public school in Illinois?

This came up when the Illinois Legislature adopted a bill to permit public-school teachers to discuss things like historical document in which the almighty is mentioned. In recent years, teachers have avoided anything to do with religion for fear such discussions would involve church-state issues.

Legislators felt a law was needed to give teachers the authority to utter the word "God" during the school day. You know, things like the Pledge of Allegiance or the motto on U.S. currency, "In God We Trust."

A lot of God-fearing, decent people probably think this whole business is pretty silly. After all, many folks see a correlation between the diminishment of God in public life and an increase in lawlessness and corruption.

Into the fray steps the Illinois governor, Jim Edgar. Using rewrite power to alter the language of bills he is signing, the governor went along with allowing God back into public schools with the caveat he added against permitting purely religious teaching. Apparently this means reading from documents like the Magna Carta that mention God is OK now, but saying "God bless you" to a sneezing student is still forbidden.

How far is this silliness going to go? Sure, school officials, parents and teachers probably don't want anyone to hold a revival during classes, but how many times has that ever been an issue in the church-state debate? Most often the arguments have been over passing mentions of the deity without any religious overtones.

A thought: If more attention were paid to the learning needs of today's students and less time were spent on quibbling about when God can or cannot be mentioned in a public school, more learning likely would occur.