Teachers and school administrators, when acting in those capacities, are representatives of the state, and, in those capacities, are themselves prohibited from encouraging or soliciting student religious or anti-religious activity. Similarly, when acting in their official capacities, teachers may not engage in religious activities with their students. However, teachers may engage in private religious activity in faculty lounges.
Basically, this means that while teachers are working, they are unable to practice their religion or express their religion. They are forced to deny it. I hate to say this, but atheism is a religion, too. Religion is defined as one's view about the existence of a greater being(s). Meaning if someone does not believe that there is a greater being(s), then it is still a religion because it is their view, or opinion.
Students may be taught about religion, but public schools may not teach religion. As the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly said, "[i]t might well be said that one's education is not complete without a study of comparative religion, or the history of religion and its relationship to the advancement of civilization." It would be difficult to teach art, music, literature and most social studies without considering religious influences.
What does this mean? Clarification please? We can be taught about religion, but not at a public school? Where else would we be taught religion? Religion isn't taught, it's believed. There is no history of religion, only the Religion of supposed history (i.e. the Theory of Evolution)
These same rules apply to the recurring controversy surrounding theories of evolution. Schools may teach about explanations of life on earth, including religious ones (such as "creationism"), in comparative religion or social studies classes. In science class, however, they may present only genuinely scientific critiques of, or evidence for, any explanation of life on earth, but not religious critiques (beliefs unverifiable by scientific methodology). Schools may not refuse to teach evolutionary theory in order to avoid giving offense to religion nor may they circumvent these rules by labeling as science an article of religious faith. Public schools must not teach as scientific fact or theory any religious doctrine, including "creationism," although any genuinely scientific evidence for or against any explanation of life may be taught. Just as they may neither advance nor inhibit any religious doctrine, teachers should not ridicule, for example, a student's religious explanation for life on earth.
Schools may teach about explanations of life on earth in a religious sense in certain classes. Science classes may only present "Genuinely scientific critiques or evidence of any explanation of life on earth but not religious critiques because they are unverifiable by scientific methodology" I hate to say this, but science has been wrong before, it has proved untrue things before, and it has also led to major misunderstandings.
