As featured on The 700 Club Newswatch, April 21, 1994
The Facts
Public school systems overwhelmed by drugs, guns, violence and declining moral standards are turning to religion for help-while avoiding the usual conflicts of separation of church and state.
Through a program called "released time," many public schools are offering students the opportunity to receive religious instruction during school hours.
"It's not anew way of reaching students, but many people aren't aware of it," says Sid Webb, director of the released time program in Ellijay, Georgia.
Released time programs have been part of America's educational system for years, reaching their height of popularity several decades ago. Now, as parents and community leaders search for ways to instill values and moral teachings in their young people, released time is coming back.
Webb says released time programs are simply "a time during the school day when students are released from their regular classes to go off campus and learn from the Bible."
Ellijay, one day each week 175 students leave school property to attend Webb's class at the Christian Learning Center. Students not only study biblical principles, they also wrestle with social issues such as sex, drugs and the rock music culture.
Most importantly, says Roger Blankenship, Director of the National Association for Released Time Christian Education, released time programs reach students with a moral message they might not get otherwise. "Across the country and throughout (released time's) history, over half the students in released time do not claim a church home," Blankenship said.
Webb adds that these students are learning a vital lesson they will not get from the public schools: "that the Bible is relevant for their lives."
Do released time programs violate the First Amendment of the Constitution which has been interpreted as requiring a wall of separation between church and state?
In 1952, the U.S.. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of released time programs in Zorach v. Clauson. In that decision, Justice William Douglas wrote:
"When the state encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authoritie ties by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it follows the best
of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and a ccom modates the public service to their spiritual needs."
As long as all support, curriculum materials and teachers are funded by the religious group sponsoring the released time instruction- and not by the public school-released time programs conducted during the school day have faced little opposition in courts.
In fact, says Blankenship, "You don't have to worry about the ACLU with released time. They know about it. And the Americans United for Separation of Church and State...actually believes it's a good idea."
Currently, there are 120 released time programs in the United States, reaching more than 250,000 students each week. And as public schools face an increasingly difficult battle against violence, drugs and other aberrant behavior in school, more communities like Ellijay, Georgia, may turn to released time programs for help.
PAT ROBERTSON RESPONDS
"Released time used to be popular when I was working in New York. It was fact of life. The trouble is the churches did not have enough enthusiasm to pursue it. Today, the need is so much greater. This is an idea whose time has come. It is now 40 years after it was said to be legal and there's no challenge to it. It just takes a diligent church body to set up the necessary facility."
STANDARDS TO LIVE BY
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again?...You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men." Matthew 5:13-16
For Your Information
Free pamphlet Available From simply write, phone or fax:
National Association for Released Time: National Assn.. For Released Time
"Released Time: The Answer" P.O. Box K, Ellijay, GA 30540
Also Available: A complete released phone 706/276-7900 fax 706/276-7901
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