Banning Prayer in Public Schools
Argumentative Essay Prayer has affected the world for centuries in innumerable ways, including art, literature, philosophy, government, philanthropy, education, social justice, and humanitarianism, but none of these things can act as a reason to preach religion in an open and free public setting.
Therefore, no prayer should be allowed to be said/preached in a school at all. The only place the Bible (or any other holy book) should be referenced in is a place of worship. There is no reason for an “open prayer session” in a place that does not explicitly welcome, support, and regularly practice the religion itself. This is because in a school, there is a wide variety of people/students including Muslims, Christians, Catholics, Hindus, Jews, and
Atheists. They all practice and worship different things and because of this, it would be unfair to acknowledge only one of them at a high school graduation or school board meeting. Some may argue that prayer in school is ok because of the Supreme Court case Marsh vs.
Chambers where the Supreme Court stated that “invocation for Divine guidance is not an establishment of religion”. This is however wrong because, when talking about divinity one is implying religion and most likely “Christ's divinity”. I disagree with this because it impedes on the separation between church and state. Religion is a free practice, but it is not free to impose on other people. By saying a prayer before a graduation which is mixed with multiple kinds of people, you are impeding on other people's rights. Prayer is a good thing and there is no law against it, but it should be kept in a place that is welcome to it.
The best way to please everyone in this type of situation is to not pray at all. If there is no prayer at all, there is no opportunity for someone to be offended and therefore, many problems can be avoided. A graduation or a school board meeting is no place to reference religion in the
Therefore, no prayer should be allowed to be said/preached in a school at all. The only place the Bible (or any other holy book) should be referenced in is a place of worship. There is no reason for an “open prayer session” in a place that does not explicitly welcome, support, and regularly practice the religion itself. This is because in a school, there is a wide variety of people/students including Muslims, Christians, Catholics, Hindus, Jews, and
Atheists. They all practice and worship different things and because of this, it would be unfair to acknowledge only one of them at a high school graduation or school board meeting. Some may argue that prayer in school is ok because of the Supreme Court case Marsh vs.
Chambers where the Supreme Court stated that “invocation for Divine guidance is not an establishment of religion”. This is however wrong because, when talking about divinity one is implying religion and most likely “Christ's divinity”. I disagree with this because it impedes on the separation between church and state. Religion is a free practice, but it is not free to impose on other people. By saying a prayer before a graduation which is mixed with multiple kinds of people, you are impeding on other people's rights. Prayer is a good thing and there is no law against it, but it should be kept in a place that is welcome to it.
The best way to please everyone in this type of situation is to not pray at all. If there is no prayer at all, there is no opportunity for someone to be offended and therefore, many problems can be avoided. A graduation or a school board meeting is no place to reference religion in the