Religiously exclusive schools

[Anonymous]

I have a question. How many people would send their child to a private school that had a policy that excluded children that did not belong to that school's religion, even if your child belonged to that religion? For instance, if you were Christian and the school only allowed Christians...would that be a problem for you?

[Anonymous]

Yes, that would be a problem for me. I wouldn't do it.

[Anonymous]

Is this purely hypothetical? Because I don't know of any schools like this... in fact, it may even be illegal.

[Anonymous]

No it is not hypothetical and it is not illegal. I live in Montgomery County and I have found two schools that have such policies. One Jewish and one Christian. I checked with the county, and after extensive research, I found that the schools could still maintain that tax exemt (?) status and have the exclusion policy. As long as there is religious content in the school, anyone who is not of their faith can be excluded.

[Anonymous]

I am curious which Jewish school you are talking about, if you don't mind sharing? I know for a fact that Charles E Smith JDS accepts students who are not Jewish. JDS is the more mainsteam school, most of the others in the area are geared towards people who are observant. If you are talking about one of those schools, then honestly, your child would probably not feel comfortable in such a school if s/he is not Jewish.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't personally choose to send my child to such a school, but can understand why in certain circumstances a school might take that position. And like churches, I don't have any issue with that policy so long as the organization meets all of the other requirements for tax exemption. For example, I could understand why people of a religion that believe that mainstream culture does not incorporate their view and values (or who believe that people of their religion are frowned upon or widely discriminated against) might wish to have school be a safe haven where their children could learn in the context of their religious views. I'm not for isolating children generally (but then again my family's religion is mainstream and we don't face any discrimination), but could see how parents and a school might feel that it's important.

[Anonymous]

I am OP. We are a mixed family (Jewish and Christian background) and I never really cared much about what kind of school my child attended. But now I do. I can not see sending my child to a school that excludes anyone. To me, that is like bigotry. I know that even if we were a single faith family, this would concern me. I was told by someone that perhaps if I told the Jewish school (which will remain nameless) that one parent was Jewish, we might have a chance. I said, not interested.
I can see if they required that you "go along" with their rituals and so on, but exclusion?
The point is that the policy is my concern, not our acceptance. I am just trying to gauge who else would be concerned about this type of thing in this day and age?
Next question, if this is legal with religion, is it also legal with respect to race?

[Anonymous]

Gesher (in Vienna or Fairfax) only accepts Jewish children (half Jewish is fine - mom or dad). I did not have a problem with it for the following reason: 40% of the curriculum is Jewish (language, prayer, talmud, bible study...). 40% is a lot.

Personally, I can't see why a non-Jew would choose to "waste" 40% of their child's classroom time.

My example is Jewish, but my feelings would hold regardless.

And, "going along" with rituals doesn't really work for the believing community.

[Anonymous]

It might not be a "waste" to expose a child to something different, but that is not OP's question.

[Anonymous]

Also, just because you are a member of a particular faith, does not make you a believer (especially when we are dealing with children).

[Anonymous]

As for why religious schools are allowed to limit students to people of that faith, it's that whole Constitution thing. The part about free exercise of religion. This is also why, for example, Catholic churches may refuse to hire people who are homosexual for some positions even in places employment discrimination based on sexual orientation is generally prohibited. The rights of religious institutions is a tricky area of law, and I personally am not always in agreement with the outcomes, but I think it's generally better than the alternatives.

[Anonymous]

In response to the original question, I would feel very uncomfortable sending DS to such a school. I would prefer him to be exposed to a wide variety of beliefs and groups at an early age. It is not impossible to be open-minded and accepting of differences growing up in a closed environment (I should know: I grew up in an extremely conservative, evangelical home and fled to the East Coast and diversity as soon as I reached adulthood), but it is much more difficult, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

we are thinking about sending our DC to Catholic schools. Both DH and I went to same. When I was in school there were some non-Catholic kids in classes so I am not sure if this is school / diosceses dependent. But I am sending my child there for many reasons, one is that I believe in the philosophy/doctrine/faith. I would likley still send them if they did not accept non-Catholic children if that was their policy.

[Anonymous]

I am raising my children to understand that they should never go anywhere that does not welcome everyone. That applies to schools too.