Persuasive Essay On Prayer In Schools

Religion is one of the most controversial issues in society today. The concern of allowing prayer in schools is an on-going debate and has resulted in numerous lawsuits. Religious school clubs, after school activities, curriculums, and moments of silence during school are just a few of the court cases that judges have administered. People in favor of prayer in schools believe that their children can only learn certain values through religious practice. On the other hand, an individual against religious practice in schools views this issue as an infringement on his or her children’s rights as Americans.

Another issue has been the banning of public prayer in schools. It was decided that public prayer should be outlawed in the Supreme Court case Engel v. Vitale. (Schlafly et al. 150) Some people could understand this as it is not right to make prayer mandatory in school, when there are people who don’t believe in any religion. What might get some people is what was decided in 1962 by the Supreme Court,”… even a voluntary, non-denominational school prayer led by a public school official violated the Establishment Clause of the First Ammendment.” (Merino 8) Many people might wonder why prayer in school, if held on a voluntary basis, is bad. Why shouldn’t the kids who want to participate in prayer at school not be allowed to? One reason could be that the school officials don’t want to put a target on kid’s backs. For example, if everyone but one kid did partake in prayer that kid may get bullied or questioned or at the very least feel left out. The same could be true if only one kid went to prayer, that child could feel targeted and awkward. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, which took place in 2000, decided that any individual could pray at

Since the founding of America, there has been concern with the church manipulating government. The separation of Church and State was to make sure the church did not become more powerful than government. In spite of wanting a separation of church and state, The United States of America became one nation under God. The earliest test of the separation of church and state with respect to education is McCollum versus Board of Education. This was a landmark case the United States Supreme Court in 1948 ended the power of a state to use its tax-supported public school system in aid of religious instruction. “The court case which prohibited the state from sponsoring specific prayers in public schools was Engel v. Vitale, decided in 1962 by an 8-1 vote.” (Cline p) It is unconstitutional to compose a school prayer and make students repeat it daily. Although these cases protect our religious freedoms, there is some fear that expelling God from public school has adverse effects. God can still be present; teachers can lead by example and teach behaviors and ethics that

They stated that religion unifies many people and puts faith into America. The State believed that the prayer would help bring out the spiritual side of children. The parents argued that the prayer quite simply violated the first amendment, the separation of church and state and requires that the government stay out of the business of prescribing religious activities of any kind. They argued that because not all students shared the same religious beliefs, the public schools should not be a place to preach religion, and believed that religious freedom of the students was being corrupted by providing time during school for prayer. The State rebutted that the prayer was completely optional, therefore was constitutional; if the prayer was against a child’s religion, or if they simply did not want to they did not have to take part in the prayer. A case very similar to this one took place rather recently. An excerpt from the pledge of allegiance states “one nation, under God.” A parent of a child attending pleaded that having said words in the pledge of allegiance is in violation of the Establishment Clause, and took it to the Supreme Court, this is the case of Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow. The Court's decision was that the excerpt did not violate the constitution because it is a symbol of our heritage and it is a

For centuries, the debate has existed whether or not to allow prayer in public schools. Many Americans feel it is not right of the schools to teach religion. With all the diversity associated with the United States, public schools cannot select one standard religion to practice, due to the cultural and religious differences in the country. Not only are schools the storm center of controversy involving religious differences, they are the principal institution charged with transmitting the identity and mission of the United States from one generation to the next. If we fail in our school policies and classrooms to model and to teach how to live with differences, we endanger our experiment in religious liberty and our

Those who are for prayer being allowed in public schools believe that it is illegal to prohibit students from doing so. Many will argue that it is a violation of student 's right to not allow them pray during school hours. For instance, “The new law requires public schools to develop policies that will allow students to pray

School Prayer by Tricia Andryszewski first starts off by, talking about the first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The students or even the teacher can’t read the Bible at school or even the lord’s prayer. They could not it in public schools. In the 1963 Justice Tom Clark, waiting for the Supreme Court. Alabama Governor George Wallace was going against them. He want them to be able to pray and read the Bible at public schools if they want to. I do not care what they say in Washington, we are going to keep right on praying and reading the Bible in the public schools of Alabama. The Supreme Court decision in 1963 was a bad law, bad history, and bad culture…. And if the Court doesn’t want to reverse itself, then we have an absolute obligation to pass a constitutional amendment to instruct the Court on its error.

In addition, under the first amendment is also freedom of religion. This gives everyone in the United States the opportunity to choose their own religion and not be coerced into a religion. The government has put limitations on this by not allowing people to express their

Most individuals on the liberal spectrum tend to agree with the courts when it declared government sponsored prayers are unconstitutional. The less conservative individuals show a tendency to believe that any amendment that allows for voluntary prayer would contradict the first amendment guarantee against government establishment of religion. Most on the liberal spectrum or those that feel the government does not have enough power feel that any sort of Government action to allow voluntary prayer in schools could be at the cost of the civil rights of students. It is believed that any amendment or law consenting for voluntary prayer would diminish the very heart of the Bill of Rights; which protects the rights of people from the oppression from the majority. Those that do not allow or want to allow prayer in school think that any amendment affirming that prayer should be allowed in school would actually introduce assembled prayer or force persons into prayer. Those that clash with prayer in school fear that judgement against those that do not participate in school prayer. Those in the small percentage that do not want to participate would be obligated to follow to a belief or ritual that which they do not believe. This could cause the individual to suffer the humiliation or burden of submitting a day-to-day spiritual exercise continuously in order to avoid being singled out by mainstream colleagues and educators.

The issue of school prayer is not one of religious freedom, as it is already legal for children to pray in school, either individually or in groups. Since the Engel decision in 1962, religious advocates have been assailing the Supreme Court for "taking God out of the classroom." In an effort to reverse this trend, conservative religious groups have been fighting for the passage of a school prayer amendment to gain greater leeway for religious activities in schools.

It is a shame that we have a few people that think the separation of church and state means that the school can not even have a prayer. This I not what the forefathers mint when they wrote that the separation of church and state in to the constitution.

Prayer being allowed in public schools has been a controversial issue in our country. Prayer is defined as a request for help or expression to God or thank of thanks toward an object or worship. Everyone has their own opinions on this issue. The U.S Supreme court misinterpreted the freedom of religion. Prayer in school would allow children to express their beliefs. I believe nothing is wrong with setting some time for pray in school. If God is allowed anywhere why can’t prayer be? Pray needs to be allowed in school so freedom of expression can be show positively.

President George W. Bush once said, "We should not have teacher-led prayers in public schools, and school officials should never favor one religion over another, or favor religion over no religion" Whether Christian prayer should be sponsored by public schools has been a widely debated issue since it was brought to the American public's attention. The practice of school sponsored or teacher sponsored prayer is where the students and faculty of a school recite a prayer simultaneously each morning, and was extremely popular in the early years of the American education system until the nineteen sixties. Today, public schools are banned from forcing students to recite a daily prayer. Many people who belong to the Christian faith believe that prayer is vital to shape a child's morals and behavior. However, there are others who believe that allowing prayer into public schools is a violation of the rights of the students who do not belong to the Christian faith. Daily administrator-led prayer in public schools should continue to be banned for the remainder of the public-school system’s existence. Although some Christians may see it as a violation of their freedom of religion, prayer in public school should not be allowed due to separation of church and state, and the intolerance that prayer in public school may impose.

Americans have debated whether prayer should or should not be banned in public schools in America for years. Although the majority of the students in America are Christian, public schools should allow prayer for all religions. America, the land of the free, should allow students to practice their religions freely, no matter what religion it may be. Not only do they deserve this freedom, but it would improve relations amongst students of different backgrounds and cultures. Even though the number of liberals in the United States who are opposed to religion in school are increasing, prayers for any religion should be an option in public schools because it gets students more involved, helps students make their own choices and most importantly, it improves students well-being.

Christopher Hitchens once stated, “... owners of dogs will have noticed that if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are god.” Religion tends to take aspects from both sides. Society uses religion as a way to calm our fear of the inevitable. An individual can interpret their religion in almost every way they would like. Some individuals use religion to exploit and harm others. Some use it as an excuse to be blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. Individuals refuse to believe that anything other than what they believe in is correct, and consequently, the world has become trapped in a this never ending cycle of hate and prejudice.