Prayer In Public Schools

"...Schools do more than train children's minds. They also help to nurture their souls by reinforcing the values they learn at home and in their communities. I believe that one of the best ways we can help out schools to do this is by supporting students'rights to voluntarily practice their religious beliefs, including prayer in schools.... For more than 200 years, the First Amendment has protected our religious freedom and allowed many Faiths to flourish in our homes, in our work place and in our schools. Clearly understood And sensibly applied, it works."

President Clinton. May 30, 2006

June 25, 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that school prayer and Bible readings would cease in all public school systems. It became a reality; God
had been removed from the classroom in the United States of America. Some time later, Canada jumped the bandwagon to become one of the few countries to publicly declare the extermination of religious practice in public schools. Neither prayer nor Bible studies were tolerated nor the theory of creation was no longer acceptable to the new curriculum; instead, evolution or the "big bang theory" was taught. This mass controversy caused countless problems throughout the US and Canada and it continues to impact society to this present day. With the recent introduction of homosexual studies into some curriculums, more parents are starting to question whether the public school system is taking things too far. Issues involving religion and education are repeated topics of public debate. Members of diverse faith traditions often find themselves on opposite sides of issues related to school prayer, the teaching of evolution and creation and teaching about religion openly. While some religious groups dispute that religion has a central role to play in public education, others maintain that a strong wall of separation is needed to protect religion from becoming diluted or being used improperly. (A Pew Forum)
One of the most talked about controversies in recent years related to religion in schools was in March 2006 when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled to allow Sikh teenagers' to wear there dagger-like kirpans to school. It was said by the legislator that accommodating these Sikhs and allowing them to wear there kirpans under certain conditions demonstrated the importance that Canadian society attaches to protecting freedom of religion; yet, bringing a seemingly harmless bible to school can lead to a severe punishment or a likely suspension. It's ironic to see how a potentially dangerous weapon is favored over an undisruptive book (Chartrand, Fred). In West Virginia, a picture of Jesus was the center of a legal battle, claiming that it goes against the law separating church and state. The artwork had been displayed in the high school for over thirty years and a large part of the schools history. It was stated that the portrait may be offensive to some students. How can a little picture be so insulting to people? The logic surrounding these situations don't seem to be fairly balanced.
With an ever increasing demand for private schools, more parents are becoming concerned with what there children are being taught.
The reasoning behind removing the creation theory from the curriculum never sat well with many people. According to Statistics Canada; approximately fifty-four percent of Canadians fall under the religious grouping of Christianity. The foundation of the Christian belief is that God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh; this is known as the creation. If the majority of Canada claims to be Christian, why has it been such a conflict to allow such a simple thing into the school system? If people are forced to listen to the facts about evolution, then why is it such trouble to allow students to hear the opposing side? In many ways, by not telling students about other theories we are giving them no choice but to listen to this one theory and not present them with options (Myyra, Niko). In April 1999, James Traficant stated to the press that "A Congress that allows God to be banned schools while our schools can teach about cults, Hitler and even devil worship is wrong, out of touch, and needs some common sense." His views on religion and public schools have opened up the minds of many people and brought new light into the controversy surrounding the topic. People are not asking that we teach bible classes or promote religion in public schools; the fact of the matter is that banning religious affairs seems awfully biased. If the theory of evolution is aloud to be discussed, why is creation not aloud? The Government claims that people may be offended if open discussions are aloud about creation, but they never mentioned how people may take offence to teachings of evolution. As boldly stated earlier, the government claims to be concerned about protecting freedom of religion in Canada. How is this beneficial to Christians if they are unable to express there beliefs and way of life in public schools?
No one is asking to give an approval to Christianity; but rather educate people about the religion and give back there freedom of expression. People have the right to know what other beliefs there are in the world instead of only being exposed to one.
Recent research shows that majority of the population does not oppose the studies of religion in school. It would be more valuable to students to open there minds into other aspects of life. Sharing religion, culture, race and diversity is what this world should be about. And if we are constantly blocking and discriminating against different peoples; then we as the human race are headed down a dark path. We should not be punished for wanting to share our religion with people; instead, we should embrace our diversity and accept the fact that not all people are the same. No matter what religion people grew up around, no one should have to keep there mouth shut for something so irrelevant.