Prayer_in_Public_Schools

6-07-2010 Prayer in the public school system has been a very controversial issue for over 30 years. The controversy itself is not in the prayers of the individual students but in whether the leaders of the schools, the teachers, administrators and other officials should have the ability to lead a prayer in their school. This country was founded on the belief in God. “One nation under God”, “In God we Trust”, so why are we as Americans allowing a select few to take away our privilege to pray. The U.S. Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to have a state-sponsored school prayer in the Engel v. Vitale court case. The Board of Education of Union Free School District No. 9 had decided to have their principal instruct the educators to recite a prayer aloud in class every morning. It wasn’t long before the parents of approximately 10 students appeared with a law suit. Their claims for the case were that the prayer had conflicting areas in relationship to their personal beliefs and religion, as well as their children. The case was initially turned away because the school did not require any of the students to recite the prayer. After being turned away by the lower court, the parents filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. The court case generated a large amount of interest from around the country. The defendant in the case, The Board of Education, had two very strong arguments in the case. The first argument was that the prayer was worded so simply that it was not like an ordinary prayer. The prayer was designed to recognize the country’s “spiritual heritage”, since this country was built on the belief in God. There was no rule at the school that required full participation by any student. The students were free to leave the room during the prayer, or simply sit quietly at their desk during the prayer, but no grade or comment by the teacher was allowed. After the court heard the cases from both sides the ruling came in favor of the Parents. The ruling was that the “Regents prayer was unconstitutional.” Mr. Justice Black issued the decision on the court. In his statements he relayed the following reasons for this controversial decision. 1. The practice of daily classroom invocation of God’s blessings as prescribed in the Regents prayer is a religious activity. 2. Under the First Amendment, governments cannot “…compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government.” 3. Many of early colonists were motivated to leave England and seek religious freedom in America. A major cause of emigration in the 16th century was the British Government’s involvement in the creation of the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer. 4. At the time that the constitution was written, many Americans became aware “of the dangers of a union of Church and State….They knew the anguish, hardship and bitter strife that could come when zealous religious groups struggled with one another to obtain the Governments stamp of approval…Our Founders were no more willing to let the content of their prayers and their privilege of praying whenever they pleased be influenced by the ballot box than they were to let these vital matters of personal conscience depend upon the succession of monarchs. The First Amendment was added to the Constitution to stand as a guarantee that neither the power nor the prestige of the Federal Government would be used to control, support or influence the kinds of prayer the American people can say—that the people’s religions must not be subjected to the pressures of government for change each time a new political administration is elected to office.” 5. “When the power, prestige and financial support of government is placed behind a particular religious belief, the indirect coercive pressure upon religious minorities to conform to the prevailing officially approved religion is plain.” 6. The First Amendment rests on the “belief that a union of government and religion tends to destroy government and to degrade religion.” 7. History shows that many people lose “their respect for any religion that had relied upon the support of government to spread its faith.” 8. “It is neither sacrilegious nor antireligious to say that each separate government in this country should stay out of the business of writing or sanctioning official prayers and leave that purely religious function to the people themselves and to those the people choose to look to for religious guidance.” In the decision made by the Supreme Court there was only one vote against the decision. This vote was by Mr. Justice Stewart, who also had an opinion on the decision and wrote: “I cannot see how an ‘official religion’ is established by letting those who want to say a prayer say it. On the contrary, I think that to deny the wish of these school children to join in reciting this prayer is to deny them the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual heritage of our Nation.” He also stated that “we deal here not with the establishment of a state church, which would, of course, be constitutionally impermissible, but with whether school children who want to begin their day by joining in prayer must be prohibited from doing so.” He also listed a few areas in which religion and God himself has already been seen in our Government. 1. Each day’s session of the Supreme Court starts with the invocation: “God save the United States and this Honorable Court.” 2. The National Anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner” contains the words “Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.” 3. The National Motto is “In God we Trust.” 4. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag contains the words “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all.” 5. The Declaration of Independence includes the phrase: “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.” This court decision was the downfall of the religious freedoms of religious Americans. The decision was very controversial among many Americans. The Texas Justice Foundation considers the day of this decision to be a day of mourning. My favorite reaction was the one made and voiced by Representative Rep. Frank Becker of New York. Representative Becker called the decision “The most tragic in the history of the United States.” I completely agree with him. Once again I state the facts, this country was built on religious beliefs, and as stated by Mr. Justice Stewart all of our anthems, mottos, pledges, and even the original Declaration of Independence lists that exact fact, that we were built on religious beliefs and especially in God. There have been numerous other court cases involving prayers in school. One such case was Abington Township School District v. Schempp. This case differed from the Engel v. Vitale case in that it was more in depth. It actually wanted to prohibit school officials from organizing or leading prayers and devotional Bible reading in public schools. This case wanted teachers and administrators to neither promote or condemn religion, just to remain neutral, thus protecting the religious freedom of the students regardless of their faith or if they even had faith. In a 1985 court case the controversy was over a moment-of-silence law. This case was known as Wallace v. Jaffree. The Alabama law allowed for there to be a moment of silence so that students could either meditate or have a moment of voluntary prayer. However, the court ruled that such a change might indicate a return of governmental promotion of prayer in the school. I do not see where allowing a school to observe a moment of silence could possibly infringe on any individuals rights. One other such case which really strikes close to home for me was the case of Santa Fe v. Doe. This one takes place in Texas, a place dead in the center of the “Bible Belt,” and my home state. Not only am I partial to this case because of its location but also because of its affiliation with sports. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that a school may not ask students to lead prayers over the public address system before a football game, which actually carried over to any athletic event. The court actually compared this case to the case of Lee v. Weisman. One of the most relaxing parts of an athletic event is the prayer before the game. The ability to pray for ones safety and for the safety of others, to pray for sportsmanship and for the ability and freedom to participate in these various events, by this court decision I personally feel as if one of my freedoms has been taken away. There was one small victory which took place in Virginia in 2002. This case gained National attention when Virginia also wanted to have a moment-of-silence law. Naturally a group of parents sued, claiming that the law was another attempt to put prayer back into the schools. The lower courts disagreed with the claim, stating that the wording of the law did not indicate what the moment of silence would be used for. The parents filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in 2003, but the justices turned the case away. Since this landmark case many other states have also issued a moment-of-silence law, thus allowing everyone the opportunity to partake in the moment of silence and to use that moment for anything they wish to use it for. President Bill Clinton, in 1995, sent out guidelines on student religious expression. He sent this material to every school district in the United States. His letter stated, “Nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones, or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the schoolhouse door. While the government may not use schools to coerce the consciences of our students, or to convey official endorsement of religion, the public schools also may not discriminate against private religious expression during the school day.” He also stated that, “religion is too important in our history and our heritage for us to keep it out of our schools…(I)t shouldn’t be demanded, but as long as it is not sponsored by school officials and doesn’t interfere with other children’s rights, it mustn’t be denied.” I would have to say that this is one of the greatest things that President Clinton ever did. President Bush also had his administration update the guidelines and had a warning added to the guidelines. The warning stated that if schools did not comply then they would be in danger of losing their federal funding. There are so many misconceptions when it truly comes to prayer in school. Students are actually permitted to pray in school, as an individual or in a group so long as it does not interfere or disrupt other students. They are also permitted to bring their religious materials with them to school as long as once again they do not disrupt other students. They are able to participate in such events at Pray at the Pole, or any other event that is offered. Just as there are groups for National Honor society or other various groups, students are also allowed to form religious groups and have organized meetings as long as it is student formed and outside of the classroom time. Prayer is considered a form of free speech and is therefore protected by the first amendment. Students are allowed to pray on the school bus, in religious clubs, they may pray in the hallway and the cafeteria and other various areas. Prayer in school should always be allowed. Children who are brought up in the church rely on their prayer for comfort, for assurance and for thankfulness. As long as the courts do not continue to remove these rights then maybe our children themselves can bring God back into the schools. I live in the heart of Texas, in a small little town that is full blown with the love and belief in God. The so called “Bible Belt” runs right through the center of Texas, which leans more towards leniency in these matters. We still pray at our sporting events, before and after, these prayers are usually led by a member of the community not necessarily a member of the school. My daughter carried a backpack to school that stated, “I love Jesus”. We have students who often ask their teachers to pray with them during a bad day, or before a test, and luckily most of our teachers are willing to pray with their students. We are free to tell people God Bless you and not worry about the repercussions because most members of our small community are also members of the churches and encourage the Christian way of life. I only wish that during the earlier court cases that the parents of the other students who did not have an issue with the prayers would have spoken up. If the court had seen that the majority of the parents had no issues with the prayers in school, maybe they would have ruled differently. Why does the majority have to be punished by the minority' Majority rules in our election processes why shouldn’t it work as far as the number of majority vs. minority in these situations. Because of 10 student’s parents the laws of this great nation were changed. Our National Motto of “One Nation under God” was tarnished because 10 parents didn’t want their children to have to pray at school. But the other parents never spoke a word in favor or against this issue. I think that we as Americans, and as Christians, need to speak our opinions and let it be known that this country was built on the belief in God and His divine presence, and that we want to continue to honor Him by taking moments each day to pray and share His word. Prayer in the public school system has been a very controversial issue for over 30 years. The controversy itself is not in the prayers of the individual students but in whether the leaders of the schools, the teachers, administrators and other officials should have the ability to lead a prayer in their school. I pray that the next 30 years shows more faith in God and less ability to remove our rights to pray, regardless of where we are. References Muir, William K.,Jr. Chicago, University of Chicago Press (1967). Prayer in Public schools; law and attitude change . Alley, R. S. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY (1996). Without A Prayer: Religious Expression in Public Schools. Derenfield, B. J. University Press of Kansas, (2007). Battle over school Prayer: How Engel v. Vitale changed America. Robinson, B.A., Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, (2002). Religion and Prayer in U.S. Public schools: When the court prohibited prayer. Lundstrom, L. Fox News (2004). Students Free to Thank Anybody, Except God. U.S. Supreme Court, “Engel et al. v. Vitale et al.,” 1962-Jun-25, at: www.nationalcenter.org/cc7252.htm