Why US Public Schools Dont Have a Prayer

Why US Public Schools Dont Have a Prayer   Students at America’s public schools can still under certain specific conditions pray at school, but their opportunities to do so are dwindling fast. In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Union Free School District No. 9 in Hyde Park, New York had violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by directing the districts principals to cause the following prayer to be said aloud by each class in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of each school day: Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country. Since that landmark 1962 case of Engel v. Vitale, the Supreme Court has issued a series of rulings that may result in the elimination of organized observances of any religion from Americas public schools. The latest and perhaps most telling decision came on June 19, 2000 when the Court ruled 6-3, in the case of Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, that pre-kickoff prayers at high school football games violate the First Amendments Establishment Clause, typically known as requiring the separation of church and state.. The decision may also bring an end to the delivery of religious invocations at graduations and other ceremonies. School sponsorship of a religious message is impermissible because it (implies to) members of the audience who are non-adherents that they are outsiders, wrote Justice John Paul Stevens in the Court’s majority opinion. While the Courts decision on football prayers was not unexpected, and was in keeping with past decisions, its direct condemnation of school-sponsored prayer divided the Court and honestly angered the three dissenting Justices. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, wrote that the majority opinion bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life. The 1962 Courts interpretation of the Establishment Clause (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,) in Engle v. Vitale has since been upheld by both liberal and conservative Supreme Courts in six additional cases: 1963 ABINGTON SCHOOL DIST. v. SCHEMPP banned school-directed recital of the Lords Prayer and reading of Bible passages as part of devotional exercises in public schools.1980 STONE v. GRAHAM banned the posting of the the Ten Commandments on public school classroom walls.1985 WALLACE v. JAFFREE banned observance of daily moments of silence from public schools when students were encouraged to pray during the silent periods.1990 WESTSIDE COMMUNITY BOARD. OF EDUCATION. v. MERGENS held that schools must allow student prayer groups to organize and worship if other non-religious clubs are also permitted to meet on school property.1992 LEE v. WEISMAN outlawed prayers led by members of the clergy at public school graduation ceremonies.2000 SANTA FE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT v. DOE banned student-led pre-game prayers at public high school football games. But Students Can Still Pray, Sometimes Through their rulings, the court has also defined some times and conditions under which public school students may pray, or otherwise practice a religion. [A]t any time before, during or after the school-day, as long as your prayers do not interfere with other students.In meetings of organized prayer or worship groups, either informally or as a formal school organization IF other student clubs are also allowed at the school.Before eating a meal at school as long as the prayer does not disturb other students.In some states, student-led prayers or invocations are still delivered at graduations due to lower court rulings. However, the Supreme Courts ruling of June 19, 2000 may bring this practice to an end.Some states provide for a daily moment of silence to be observed as long as students are not encouraged to pray during the silent period. What Does Establishment of Religion Mean? Since 1962, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that in Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, the Founding Fathers intended that no act of the government (including public schools) should favor any one religion over others. Thats hard to do, because once you mention God, Jesus, or anything even remotely Biblical, you have pushed the constitutional envelope by favoring one practice or form of religion over all others. It may very well be that the only way to not favor one religion over another is to not even mention any religion at all a path now being chosen by many public schools. Is the Supreme Court to Blame? Polls show that a majority of people disagree with the Supreme Courts religion-in-schools rulings. While its fine to disagree with them, it is not really fair to blame the Court for making them. The Supreme Court did not just sit down one day and say, Lets ban religion from public schools. Had the Supreme Court not been asked to interpret the Establishment Clause by private citizens, including some members of the Clergy, they never would have done so. The Lords Prayer would be recited and the Ten Commandments read in American classrooms just as they were before the Supreme Court and Engle v. Vitale changed it all in June 25, 1962. But, in America, you say, the majority rules. Like when the majority ruled that women could not vote or that black people should ride only in the back of the bus? Perhaps the most important job of the Supreme Court is to see to it that will of the majority is never unfairly or hurtfully forced on the minority. And, thats a good thing because you never know when the minority might be you. Where School-Sponsored Prayer is Required In England and Wales, the School Standards and Framework Act of 1998 requires that all students in state-run schools participate in a daily â€Å"act of collective worship,† which must be of â€Å"a broadly Christian character,† unless their parents request that they be excused from taking part. While religious schools are allowed to mold their act of worship to reflect the school’s specific religion, most religious schools in the United Kingdom are Christian. Despite the 1998 law, Her Majestys Chief Inspector of Schools recently reported that about 80% of secondary schools were not providing daily worship for all students. While England’s Department of Education has stressed that all schools must maintain religious prayer in schools in order to reflect the beliefs and traditions of the predominantly Christian country, a recent BBC study found that 64% of students do not take part in daily acts of worship or prayer. In addition, a 2011 BBC survey revealed that 60% of parents believed that the daily worship requirement of the School Standards and Framework Act should not be enforced at all.