Absolutely Not!

Going to school is not optional. Children may go to public, private, parochial, or charter school, or be home schooled, but parents who do not assure one of these options are in violation of the law. The law does not require that one’s education include religious indoctrination.   Mandatory prayer in school is indoctrination. Why should a child whose parents are Buddhist be legally required to attend school and pray to a god that they don’t believe in? Parents who want their children to be educated in a religious environment can send them to a parochial school or to Sunday school. If a young person joins scouting, he signs up for a troop and recites an oath that promises “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal … and reverent” and pledges to “God and country.” These religious references are part of scouting, but scouting is optional. Mandatory schooling should not include religious indoctrination.