My Views on School Prayer
Now do I oppose prayer in the public schools? No, I do not oppose a student’s right to have optional time in school to reflect upon her/his own personal religion - - albeit I don’t believe this is a dire necessity to a student’s educational well-being. However, I do oppose the direct promotion of a specific religion or denomination in the public schools, because the taxpayers are involuntarily supporting the public school system and not all tax-paying citizens belong to the same religious affiliation. And I don’t believe in students of the public schools being forced to participate in school prayer, because religion is supposed to be a private, personal affair, not an issue that’s subject to communal scrutiny. That applies to ALL religions and faiths, be it Christianity, Judaism, atheism, monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, Paganism, Wicca, Buddhism, Hinduism, agnosticism, or Alternative religions.
Of course, parochial and private schools certainly have the right to integrate whichever religion(s) they advocate into their curriculums. That’s the beauty and sovereignty of private educational institutions - - within reason, of course. But my concern is also for the non-denominational sovereignty regarding students’ rights in the public schools . . . schools which are funded directly by tax dollars.
I wouldn’t have a problem with the Pledge of Allegiance being recited in the classroom either, if the schools would just omit the "under God" portion of the Pledge. I don’t see why a school-related activity such as that should contain the reference to one religion’s deity. It may as well say "one nation under Goddess".
If religious extremists such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and Christian conservative nitwits such as Alan Keyes, Gary Bauer, and Pat Buchanan had it their way, Christianity would be the prevailing force in our public school system - - er, at least, their own respective interpretations of "Christianity". But the fact is we live in a pluralistic society, and the Separation of Church and State is meant to protect religious minorities from being conglomerated and assimilated into a mainstream majority of religious conformity. People can still freely practice their own religion without enforcing it upon people of other faiths.
In a community near mine, several students were killed in a drunk driving accident (and not as the instigators). When their school held a memorial service for the victims, a group of students invited a minister to attend the service and lead prayer for those who wished to participate. So then this busybody Freedom from Religion foundation came up from Madison to protest the presence of the ministers at the memorial service (because the service was held at the school building). The point is, it was the STUDENTS, not the school administration, who organized the clergy appearance. If the school itself had promoted bringing in ministers, then the Freedom from Religion foundation would have had legitimate grounds to object. But it was the grieving students who organized the clergy’s visit to honor the memories of their deceased friends and classmates . . . and those students had every right to independently do so. For this reason, I also see nothing wrong with prayer at football games, as long as it’s student-organized by the team.
I think one of the biggest apprehensions is that many Christians fear that liberals are trying to "wipe out" freedom to practice Christianity from our society. Likewise, many non-Christians fear that conservatives are trying to enforce Christianity upon our society. In reality, it’s only a minority of extremists on the two opposite political fringes who want to control people’s lives. But folks in the middle are inclined to panic, because understandably, NO ONE wants their 1st Amendment rights violated or trampled on by others. Emotional polarization triggers reactionary and retaliatory responses and measures from those who fear their freedom is in jeopardy.
Public institutions must be structured, for all intents and purposes, as non-denominational by their governing administrations. Creationism and evolution should each be taught as THEORY rather than as "fact" in our schools . . . but the administrations have no right to favor one over the other (unless the institution is private). If one religion is deemed "superior" to all others, that’s a clear obstruction of the 1st Amendment rights of those who don’t practice that particular "superior" religion of the majority.
I’m not against school prayer . . . I’m against public schools enforcing prayer and favoring one faith over all others. That’s not prayer . . . that’s penance.
We must keep our public schools non-denominational . . . that’s the only way to protect everyone’s 1st Amendment rights.
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