Prayer In Public Schools Research Paper

Culture Wars: Prayer in Public Schools Prayer in public schools has been a contentious battle between the pro-prayer camp and the no-prayer camp and one of the chief battles in the culture wars in the 1980s. Ronald Reagan promised to reinstate school prayer during his campaign for his second term as President of the United States. In a radio address in February of 1984 Reagan states, “But now we’re told our children have no right to pray in school. Nonsense. The pendulum has swung too far toward intolerance against genuine religious freedom. It’s time to redress the balance” (1984). However, when he was reelected in November of 1984, he did nothing to propose a new Constitutional amendment to reinstate school prayer. Both sides of the argument
The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” (Congress, 1791). The interpretation from the supporters of prayer in public schools is that Congress was stating that there should be nothing imposed to stop the free expression of religion, not even the U. S. Supreme Court. The belief that a “high wall of separation between church and state” should be protecting religious freedom from government interference and not the other way around is quite prevalent in the Pro-Prayer camp (Schwadel, 2013). Additionally, many supporters of school prayer quote often from the Bible claiming that verses support prayer in public schools. The most frequently quoted book is 1 Thessalonians, “Pray without ceasing. In every thing (sic) give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (King James Bible, 1769). The literary support for prayer in public schools is very prestigious and when quoted correctly can provide a stanch defense of prayer in public
After the U. S. Supreme Court’s 1962 interpretation of this clause to mean that states were no longer allowed to force students to pray or read devotional materials in public schools, the debates began (Schwadel, 2013). The supporters of the Supreme Court ruling often use the “separation of church and state” argument that is often credited to the First Amendment; however, those actual words don’t appear in the Constitution (Schwadel, 2013). Support for school prayer did decline in the 1970s and 1980s with baby boomers having the lowest level of support for school prayer (Schwadel, 2013). However, other than the church and state argument there does not appear to be any other strong disagreements regarding prayer and the Bible in schools. Additionally, if some families feel that prayer is a necessary part of their children’s school day, private schools are not subject to the same restrictions as public