Analysis of an Article Titled “Teaching Traditional American Values to My Children”
The very first violation made by the director was that he was imposing his Christian belief system over other members of the Group (PFG) which became prominent when he cleared in his speech that anyone not following his belief does not belong to PFG. The second violation, as an agent/manager of PFG, was that the director ordered all uniforms to be purchased from his friend’s shop. Moreover, the director violated the first amendment, as a manager to PFG, by clarifying to parents that is they purchased uniforms from elsewhere, their children would be expelled from the school. One of the parents found that it is illegal for “public” school to expel children if their parents bought uniforms from elsewhere and not from designated store. The director violated the first amendment by suppressing freedom of choice of American parents. The third violation was that the director wanted to run the public school as private and the way he pleased.
Giving up National Rights for Welfare
After a careful analysis of the case, it is observed that American people, particularly women, are willing to give up their rights of freedom of speech and freedom of filing petition so that their children could learn American Values. This is prominent from the fact that the writer of this case gives up her American Values so that her children could continue their education at PFG School. Though the director made many violations and imposed strict conditions on staff members and parents, yet they were obliged to remain silent. Anyone who could speak against the director or go against any of his rules, the children would be expelled from the school and their academic career would suffer. Because of this, one can observe clearly from the case that parents give up their own American rights as well as values and keep facing bullying from school’s administration so that their children could continue their learning at the school. Parents also became afraid to file petitions against the public school concerning purchase of uniforms from designated store of director’s friend regardless of the fact that the uniform quality was good or not.
Following the Law
People are afraid to make others follow the law because of their own insecurities. First of all, no one follows the whistle blower who brings the problem to the front and everyone’s attention. Other people are more likely to misunderstand the whistle blower thinking that it is illegal to go against existing system/practice despite it is according to the constitutional law or not. People also felt afraid to follow the flyer sent by one parent because everyone thought that going against the school administration would result in its closure and their children’s education would discontinue.
Is America a Christian Nation?
The constitution of United States of America is based on a secular concept where the constitutional document has mentioned religion only twice in the first amendment. The first concept requires respect for religious beliefs and the second one prohibits conducting religious tests in civil exams. Therefore, one can say that the United States of America was never founded as a Christian nation. The public offices, since the very inception, prohibit display of religious sentiments. Though majority of Americans are Christians but this does not mean that the country was founded as a Christian state. The United States of America welcomes people from all religious groups and ethnic backgrounds. The diversity and religious freedom in America cannot prevail if any government or public office promotes Christianity. Therefore, one can agree that America is not a faith-based nation .
Works Cited
Stephens, Otis H. Encyclopedia of American civil rights and liberties, Volume 1. Greenwood Press, 2006.
