Reflective Essay: The Separation Of Church And State

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It was March 20, 2014, I was sitting in the office under a picture depicting General George Washington commanding the continental army, the secretaries busy at work, talking, laughing and drinking their cold, bitter coffee. Why was I here? What had I done? What were they going to do to me? was all I could manage to think while sitting in that beige, swivel chair. As I was parked in that seat, going through everything I had done in the past week, nothing I could think of rendered punishable. The door to my right flew open, and out came my high school principal, Mr. White, standing in the doorway, arms crossed, his shadow stretched across the worn gray carpet. “Hello Tyler, please come have a seat in my office.”
I walked in, slumped over, and sat in the chair on the other side of his desk. He was a graying, middle-aged man, nice smile, but a mean face. Straight away he
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White, and said, “I have asked her about her political and religious point of view, but when she asked me to stop, I did.” “Tyler, it is completely inappropriate for a student to ask his teacher about politics, and religion. There is a reason why the separation of church and state exists., it’s to keep things like this from happening. Now, why did you glare at her when she asked you to stop?”
“A misinterpreted expression,” I stated calmly
“Why were you asking about her kids?”
“She talks about her kids all the time and has hundreds of pictures of them posted on the wall behind her desk, I was just being cordial,” I said calmly, but I was emphatic, an innocent gesture had just turned into a question of real motive.
“Well, you’re luck I believe you, Tyler. I would advise you not to spend any extra time in her classroom, go to her class, do her work, then leave. If I hear anything more of this, I will have no choice but to put you in in-school suspension for a week. Go back to class and go straight there, I do not want to see you in the halls.”
“Okay,” I asserted
I

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