The Case Against School Prayer

The Case Against School Prayer The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s article explains that religion should not be acceptable in public schools for the simple fact that religion is not universal. In the second paragraph of the article, the author states, “Our public schools are for all children, whether Catholic, Baptist, Quaker, atheist, Buddhist, Jewish, agnostic.” FFrF interjects that silent, personal prayer should never be outlawed in public schools, but should be the only acceptable form of prayer (page 2, paragraph 1). The “voluntary” prayer amendment, in FFrF’s views, negates the First Amendment’s guarantee against the government’s establishment of religion (page 2, paragraph 2). Also, FFrF asserts that“The Moment of Silence” law, enacted be Bill Clinton, mandates as a green light to introduce prayers, causing more legal challenges at the expense of taxpayers (page 4, paragraph 4). To further their argument, Freedom from Religion Foundation argues that even Jesus was against school prayer by adding a verse from the Bible, Matthew 6:5-6 (page 5, paragraph 3).
The Case Supporting School Prayer In Dr. Kenneth Williams’ article, Prayer in Public Schools and Graduation Ceremonies, he argues that state sponsored prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (page 1, paragraph 1). Dr. Williams asserts that the government should have nothing to do with injecting religion into the educational process. He contends, “Therefore, exposing school children to a divine referent through non-sectarian prayers at the beginning of the school day or in graduation exercises is defensible (page 1, paragraph 2).” Dr. Williams asserts that children are impressionable and can be confused when the religious traditions of their home life conflict with the traditions they are exposed to at school. Though there are many different religions in public schools, they children should be able to find a way to use prayer and to encourage faith at all times