“The purpose of education is to know God and to make Him known; therefore, we uphold that the sacred pursuit of education exists outside the jurisdiction of the state.” — Classical Conversations, We Believe
It goes without saying that the First Amendment is foundational to American liberty. It states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The founders rightly understood that without the basic rights to religion, speech, assembly, and petition, a country would cease to be free. It is of course important, therefore, that we, as citizens, properly understand what these principles involve. For our purposes, we will explore religious freedom by considering the question, “What did the founding fathers understand religious freedom to protect?” The popular view of religious freedom today is that the First Amendment exclusively protects a citizen’s right to select a faith to practice and a church to attend; but what if it was meant to encompass much more?
By examining the definition of religion and exploring the nature of education, it will become clear that education is inextricably religious and therefore, all state involvement in education is unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
The Definition of Religion
Religion mattered a great deal to our Founding Fathers. As John Adams observed, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Thus, it is right to determine a fair and accurate definition for this all-important term. Surprisingly, the Supreme Court has never formally defined the word religion. However, by examining the American legal tradition, one will find a definition given by James Madison in The Virginia Declaration of Rights. He wrote that religion is “The duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it.” It follows then that man’s duty to God is within the realm of religion, placing it strictly outside of the jurisdiction of the state according to the First Amendment. So, the question follows, “What does God require of man?” The scriptures provide a plethora of answers to this all-important question; for instance, consider Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
Scripture clearly teaches that God deserves the devotion of man’s heart, soul, might, and mind through the diligent teaching of His commandments. Thus, because men’s minds are owed exclusively to God, the education of men rests securely within the realm of religion, placing it entirely outside of the jurisdiction of the civil government.
The Nature of Education
Some, upon hearing this argument, may be silently rebutting its thesis with the argument, “But what about secular education? Isn’t that irreligious?” “Secular education,” many suppose, is embodied in the public schools where only unbiased facts and neutral teachings are taught. How is the government infringing on the Establishment Clause by providing irreligious education? At Classical Conversations, we reject the idea that neutral education exists because all education provides a religious answer to questions of origin, function, and purpose.
Origin
When someone educates another or is being educated, what are they doing? They are learning, questioning, and considering the unknowns and knowns of our universe. This inquiry requires basic questions to be answered before reason can be applied to a subject. As classicists so often say, “You must first define your terms.” Some terms that must be defined before education can take place are “Who is God?” and “Who is man?” Furthermore, “How did the world come to be? Is there an intentional Creator or do we derive from chaos?” It is questions like these, that consider the origin of our universe, which lay the foundation of education. For instance, consider this example: if someone believes the universe is simply observable chaos, there is no sense in asking the question “What does 4×4 equal?” because true chaos would prevent anyone from ever arriving at the same answer twice. Alternatively, if someone believes the world was ordered by a reasonable Creator, there is great sense in learning sums.
Function
Let’s examine further how different premises of origin can lead individuals to wildly different conclusions on how the world ought to function. In the first example, say someone has come to the conclusion that the universe came into existence through an evolutionary process with no intelligent designer. If this is true, it would be silly for them to approach any subject at all (for nothing can be known truly in a world of chaos). If they were to try, however, it is very likely that when studying subjects like medicine and civics, they would conclude that it is man’s job to bring nature under their own command. This observation is laid out in full by C. S. Lewis in The Abolition of Man.
In contrast, if they believe mankind was created in the image of God, they will conclude that men by their nature have “certain unalienable rights,” as one great man put it. Such a belief would spark curiosity and wonder at our world which was created intelligibly by a divine being. They will, from a study of medicine, linguistics, mathematics, and history, have a sense of awe and wonder at the universe because, as Solomon wrote in Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”
Purpose
Lastly, all functions act in service of a particular end, so we must ask, what are the logical ends of each of these educational worldviews? In the first example, one will inevitably conclude that men cannot know what is best for them so other men, who are smarter than they are, must direct their destinies. This will contribute, inevitably, to the promotion of practices like eugenics and socialism which believe that life must be controlled and contained in order to bring chaos under the command of men. In the second, men may come to a plethora of conclusions about how the world ought to work, but they will share one common conviction with others who share their view of origin and function; God exists, and He gave man rights that must not be infringed upon by other men. It is this very conviction that inspired the American Founding Fathers to create the free nation we now enjoy.
Though the particulars of these examples are imaginary, they represent two major answers to the questions of origin and function in education today. Each began with a simple theological question: “Does God exist?” One says “no,” and the other “yes.” Then, from this answer, the doctrines of education derived a function and purpose for man. It is these philosophies that lead to the conclusions of communism or capitalism, or more basically, slavery or freedom.
Education, by its very nature, always deals with questions of origin, function, and purpose. Because such dramatic worldviews are at stake in education, one must seriously ask, what are the theological and epistemological premises that are driving our educational inquiries? Clearly, by the very nature of education, the question is not “Will a theological doctrine be taught?” Rather, we must ask “Which theological doctrine will you teach?” and “Who has the jurisdiction to select that doctrine?”
What Doctrine Is Being Taught?
For many decades, Americans have allowed the government to select the doctrine that is taught to millions of children every day. It is a dangerous thing to allow the government to dictate what will and will not be taught. Consider, for instance, what happened in Prussia after the establishment the first public school system. Before we meet a similar fate as the Prussian people, it is necessary to ask “What doctrine is being taught today?”
Many Americans are under the impression that children are receiving “secular,” and by secular they mean unbiased, education in public schools. They are just teaching pure facts, they say. Yet again, there is no such thing as a neutral education because every education presents answers to the questions of origin, function, and purpose. So then, what are the government schools really teaching?
I propose that the religion of public schools is secular humanism. John Dewey, father of progressive education, was a self-proclaimed humanist as was his colleague Charles F. Potter. Potter wrote in his book Humanism: A New Religion, “Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism, and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?”
Secular humanism’s answer to the question “Who is God?” is “Man,” and its response to the question “Who is man?” is “God.” With this origin, humanism promotes the idea that the function of man is to define morality and re-establish Eden by his own power. The purpose of man, therefore, is to dictate the conditions of a utopia and enforce them on a mass scale. This ushers in dogmatic inverted moralism and absolute globalism. By this criteria, it claims to know something about God, man, and the identity and purpose of man. The effects of this religious teaching are all around our country today; children seeking their inner identity and joining the LGBTQ religious cult, establishing racial hierarchies through movements like Black Lives Matter, and seeking salvation through green energy initiatives. The religious undertones of these social movements are no accident; Each have rituals, creeds, and missions because they are all rooted in the religion of humanism, which is being taught by the government on a mass scale.
It cannot be denied that all education is inextricably religious according to the definition of religion and the nature of education. We have largely forgotten this important reality and allowed the government to infiltrate the sacred institutions of education. The government is currently in violation of the First Amendment by establishing government schools, funding education, and overseeing private education through oversight measures and state regulations. What’s more, the religion being taught by the government is dangerous and harming millions of families with its perverse doctrine. The only question that remains is, will we continue to allow the government to establish and teach secular humanism to millions of Americans? Indeed, we cannot. It is time to entirely eject education from the domain of the state and return it entirely to the sacred realm of religion.
Editor’s Note: Revised to reflect new Education Independence pillar statements on 09/15/2025
