Dear Next President, 

Some would say this country was founded on the Bible, and that some of the Constitution was modeled after it. Religion is a part of life, whether you believe in it or not. The Republican party's views are based off of Christianity. If we allow it in politics, if it's a part of life in many different ways, why can we not advertise it in school?  

If people are invited to church or anything religious repeatedly, people can easily claim it as harassment. Bullying is harassment, but you can't put a stop to it. Talking about and sharing your beliefs with someone is not something that should easily be shamed or banned. People want to learn about religion and deserve the chance to go in depth with it. It's educational, and in my opinion can have a big effect on who you are as a person. This country is based off of diversity; its something we celebrate, but not in schools. Many people are separated in schools, and by treating religion as if it's harassment only separates people more. Any time we go over a topic in history it has a line back to religion. Pilgrims coming over on the mayflower were of Christian religion, our country was built up by men of Christian religion, 9/11 was an act of terrorism caused be religion. That last point isn't ancient history, it only happened fifteen years ago, but it goes to show religion is tied into history. Teachers overlook teaching it because they do not want to overstep. 

God is a big part of my life. He wasn't always, but that's because I never understood it and never tried to. When my mom forced me to go to church one night, I was angry, but after a story of a little girl who was tortured for believing in God my whole perspective on God changed. I always asked myself after that day " why would people go through so much pain, if he didn't exist?" The only answer I could find was that he did exist, he was very real, and the people who go through the pain know he is real. They would die for him and many have. But here in America we can't advertise God or any other religion; we can learn about it, but if it goes farther than that we could get punished for it. That's not a free country to me. I believe that people who are religious, or at least interested, should have the choice to have a class or something teaching you about the religion you identify with. I would like to see that religion is supported in schools; it's just as important to learn about as history.