Prayer in school was first a controversy in 1940, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that public schools may require students to salute the flag and pledge allegiance even if it violates their religion. In 1962, the Supreme Court found school prayer unconstitutional according to the First Amendment. The controversy slowly progressed into the debating issue we know today.
The First Amendment states that �Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof�. Prayer in school, according to this amendment, should be no controversy. Our society today is so set on accepting other religions, like witchcraft or Buddhism, that we are slowly pushing Christianity out of the picture.
In 1995, two families � one Mormon, one catholic, both residing in Santa Fe, Texas � filed a lawsuit. The Mormon daughter was supposedly offended when a Catholic student led a prayer before a sporting event. The school district then answered by assigning guidelines that banned pre-game prayer and stated disciplinary actions that would be taken towards rebels.
When we came over to this world in 1607 on the Mayflower, we were glowing with happiness as we escaped the wrath of religious persecution. Back in England, the king persecuted religious followers who believed in outside sources besides his own. So to solve his dilemma, he hung the believers of different sorts. To flee was the only option, and that is what our first settlers chose. The new land they set foot on provided an opportunity to start over with new rules and a new life. We struggled through starvation, illness, death, and war to become the nation we are today. But we also lost sight of an important factor in the first settlers� eyes � our faith. Because of our ever-spreading ethical society, many people feel the need to rid our society of a God based religion. Many have gone so far as to attempt to remove �under God� from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Removing religion from school not only affects our personal faith, but it also prevents us from teaching moralistic values. On April 20, 1999, two young men walked into a Colorado high school, determined to cause pain and suffering. Cornering students, one gunman reached over and grabbed the head of Rachel Scott by her hair, pointed a gun to her head, and asked her if she believed in God. Her faith strong, she answered �yes� with a determined voice. Seconds later, she was no longer breathing.
If I was talking about faith, I would focus more on Rachel, but what I want to point out pertains to the two gunmen. Research shows that the two gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold suffered from failure. They felt that they failed to their society, that they did not belong and, in website blogs, they posted many death threats including that they �wanted to kill the people that annoyed them.�
If prayer had been allowed in school, maybe they would have been more content with life and filled with patience and understanding towards others. Since the banning of prayer in 1962, research shows that sexual activity has increased in unmarried girls as has teen pregnancies. The rates of suicide went up 253% from 1962, and crime has risen over 330%. Although we cannot prove that these changes are from banned prayer alone, it most certainly has a factor in it.
Banning prayer is not fair to the Christians it affects. We entered this country seeking religious freedom, and we found it � for a while. Opening our country to immigrants, we also opened it to other religions. But because of these religions, we are slowly losing the meaning of Christianity to our country.
Prayer makes us who we are, and if they ban it from society, it can tear us apart. Faith is what a lot of us are made of, and if we don�t experience religious freedom, some may fall into the wrong crowd. People fall into habits because they do not have the strength to resist. With prayer, we can prevent these saddened happenings.
Banning prayer doesn�t solve any issues, it only creates more. Place something on the back burner, and eventually, it�s going to boil over. There is no way to please everyone, but we established this nation under God, and created the amendment that inspires many immigrants to travel � freedom of religion. So, why can�t we allow the freedom of our hometown religion?