Prayer In Public Schools

Prayer in public schools has always been a “hot” and controversial topic. It is very emotional, and that makes people passionate about this subject. Prayer should never be included in public schools; prayer in the classroom deviates from the Founding Father’s vision, excludes other religious activities/rituals and ostracizes individuals who do not participate in prayer in the classroom. For generations, children have said the Pledge of Allegiance in school, but many people might not know that the words “under God” were added to this declaration (Gaylor), in 1954. Many consider Atheism as unpatriotic and ‘un-American’ as is communism” (Robinson). This simplistic mind set must have the Founding Fathers spinning in their graves; they saw
the danger of a theocracy and created a government specifically devoid of religion, and gave it a mechanism to keep religious motives out of public life: the “wall of separation” between church and state. Forcing children to pray in school knocks a hole in that wall. The purpose of public schools is to “educate, not to proselytize” (Gaylor). Advocates of prayers in public schools say that such prayers are “voluntary,” but Gaylor asks what “5, 8, or 10-year-old could view prayers recited as part of class routine as ‘voluntary’?” They would be embarrassed, teased and possibly persecuted as being “different” if they didn’t go along with the prayer everyone else was saying. Religious observance should be private and personal, while the schools are public, and “it is appropriate that the two should not mix.” (Gaylor). Schools should remain neutral so that all children feel welcome (Gaylor). “The schools are supported by all taxpayers, and therefore should be free of religious observances and coercion” (Gaylor). It is the duty of parents and churches to instruct children in religious matters; that duty does not fall to the public schools in any form, and encouraging prayer in schools “usurps the rights of parents” (Gaylor). One wonders how the argument would develop if the Buddhist community suddenly began agitating to have Buddhist prayers in schools.
What about Hindu prayers? Judaism? Jainism? Native American rites? Wicca? All are recognized religions; there are people who pray to Satan—should that be part of the curriculum as well? Advocates of school prayer are invariably Christian, and so they feel comfortable with the idea of their children reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Clearly, it is impossible in a society as diverse as the United States to devise a prayer that will be suitable for everyone. Any prayer that would appeal to everyone would be so bland as to be meaningless, as always happens when we go to the lowest common denominator. It’s far better that we continue to keep prayer out of the public school system. When religion comes into public schools, ugly things can happen. It has “singled out the lone Jewish student, the class Unitarian or agnostic, the children in the minority. Families who protest state/ church violations in our public schools invariably experience persecution” (Gaylor). When parents brought suit against prayer in schools, their children were beaten up, the families “subjected to community harassment and death threats for speaking out in defense of a constitutional principle”
(Gaylor). It should be noted that there is no law preventing students from praying in school; it’s a vital part of religious freedom that they can exercise this right if they choose (“Anti-School Prayer Position”). What is not legal is coercing others into praying as well; when school authorities do this, they violate the establishment clause of the Constitution. The arguments outlined here are only a few of those that can be used to explain why school prayer is not desirable. It is a private matter, one that has no place in the educational setting, particularly as it is likely that students who choose not to participate will be singled out for abuse, ostracized, even violently attacked. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." (www.religioustolerance.org)

WORKS CITED
“Anti-School Prayer Position.” ITVS. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.itvs.org/schoolprayer/issue5.html>
Gaylor, Annie Laurie. “The Case Against School Prayer.” Freedom from Religion Foundation. 1995. Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.ffrf.org/nontracts/schoolprayer.php
Robinson, B.A. “The U.S. Pledge of Allegiance.” Religious Tolerance. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_pled1.htm