Ashland — Contrary to what many Americans have been led to believe, God and religion have not be banned from the public schools by either the government or the courts, said Eric Buehrer, founder and president of Gateways to Better Education and a nationally recognized authority on religion and the public schools.

Buehrer spoke at Monday night’s “Keeping the Faith in Public Schools” gathering at Ashland Community and Technical College and today he will be leading a professional development seminar for public school teachers on religion and the schools.

During his 75-minute talk before about 100 people gathered in the J.B. Sowards Theater at ACTC, Buehrer stressed what is permitted in the public school under U.S. Department of Education guidelines adopted during the administration of President Bill Clinton and reaffirmed during the administration of George W. Bush.

“Students can pray in school as individuals and as part of a group,” said Buehrer, adding that prayer has never been banned in school unless it is led or mandated as part of the regular school day or at a school-sponsored program.

Under the U.S. Department of Education guidelines, students are free to distribute religious literature at school as long as it does not violate established school policy regarding the distribution of literature, and students are free to openly read the Bible at school.

“Now if the teacher says get out your history book and you start reading your Bible, then that’s not acceptable,” Buehrer said. “But you can read the Bible if the teacher grants free reading time in class and also in study hall, the lunch room and between classes.”

Public school students can write or talk about their faith in their homework, during classroom discussions and in their art work, said Buehrer.

“Now if your subject is golf and you try to talk about Jesus, then that’s inappropriate since Jesus didn’t play golf,” Buehrer said. “But if you want to share your faith in an essay for English class, then you can do so.”

As far as the federal government is concerned, the personal expression of faith in the public schools is a “free speech issue.”

Many school officials simply do not know the federal guidelines on the expression of faith in public schools and overreact. He mentioned one school that banned the use of the colors red and green on cookies at Christmas time out of fear of being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union. “That’s how ridiculous this has become,” he added.

Buehrer said teachers should actively encourage their students to live their faith in the classroom, even if their faith is not Christian. He said Christian parents should encourage their children to live their faith in school and everywhere else they go. “We need to make sure they know that they do not have to leave their faith at the school door,” he said.

Academic guidelines in Kentucky and most other states instruct public schools to teach students about the impact Christianity has had on the cultural life of America, Buehrer said. No other faith has had a greater impact on the culture of this country, and it would be “academically dishonest” to teach young people that other faiths have had the same impact on our culture and our history as Christianity has had, he said.

Most people would consider it appropriate for a school in India to teach about Hinduism, a school in Syria to teach about the Muslim faith, a school in Israel to teach about Judaism and a school in Laos to teach about Buddhism, because those are the predominant faiths in those countries, Buehrer said.

“Christianity is the predominant faith in this country, so why should we not talk about it in our schools?” he asked.

Yet, despite the role Christianity has played in their country, Buehrer said William Nord, a professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina, is right when he wrote: “Public schools clearly and forcefully discourage students from thinking about the world in the religious way.”

As a result, an alarming number of young people in America are rejecting the Christian faith, said Buehrer, who has a daily radio program aired on more than 400 Christian radio stations in America. A recent study found that only two out of 10 Americans now in their 20s say they have the same level of faith that they had as children, he said.

“About 90 percent of those young people say they began losing their faith in middle school and in high school. Buehrer said. “This is not happening because of they had some liberal professors in college. It is coming before they leave high school.”

“This generation of Christians must work harder than any other generation to keep the faith strong,” Buehrer said. That means Christian parents must not be afraid to openly express their faith, he said. “Too many Christians have become too fearful of reprisals to share their faith.”

“I’m not down on public education,” Buehrer said. “There are many, many good things happening in our public schools,” but he added that school administrators need to be more aware of what is permitted and what is banned in regards to religion in the public schools.

Sioux Falls, S.D., adopted a policy that allowed the expression of religious faith in the schools — including the singing of Christmas carols — as long as the teachers were not actively promoting that faith, Buehrer said. “As expected, the ACLU filed suit over the Sioux Falls policy — and it lost. It not only lost in the lower courts but that decision was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

“The courts are not anti-God,” Buehrer said. “They simply are opposed to government and the schools actively promoting one faith over another.”

JOHN CANNON can be reached at jcannon@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2649.