“There Was a Christmas Tree but No Christmas”: Religion in Public Schools

Abstract

This chapter is an analysis of what happened when pre-service teachers at a large public university were asked about religion. Young adults, studying to become teachers themselves, struggled to define the word “religion” and then went on to explain that growing up “they had Christmas trees but no religion” in their public school classrooms. As a result, they, like millions of students around the country, grew up in classrooms that perpetuate the idea that Christianity is the national religion, with Christmas being the national holiday. This chapter takes on the oft-stigmatized topic of religion, arguing that schools need to do a better job of helping young people learn about a variety of religions in order to take away the fear they report feeling when they talk about this subject.