The Debate Over Public Prayer

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 prayer was removed from public school classrooms in 1962, we have had a 6-fold increase in violent crime, our divorce rate has tripled,births to single mothers have increased 5-fold, the teenage suicide rate has tripled, and SAT scores have dropped 10%.(Creation Today). Reasons that represent why prayer and moments of silence should be allowed in the public school system will be expressed. This essay will represent the affirmative stance when regarding this topic of school wide prayer and moments of silence.

Prayer should allowed in the public school system because prayer is an important part of America’s rich spiritual heritage. All throughout the history of America there have been many important documents written of our country that have references to “Almighty God,” “Thy Blessings,” and “Our dependence upon Thee.” These include: the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, the national anthem, and the presidential oath (Haas, 1995, p. 39). In school students always say the pledge, which states, “One Nation Under God.” A prayer says that students just want to ask for a good day and guidance throughout the day. Not only do important documents of our country refer to God but also the words “In God We Trust” are engraved on all coins minted and bills pressed in the United States (1995, p. 39). There are two parts of the American tradition and they are prayer and religion (1995, p. 39). If society keeps prayer out of the public schools, they are teaching the students that traditions are not important and that what this country was founded upon does not matter. Does society want to raise a group of young people to disrespect what their forefathers wanted; religious freedom? If that is the case then why do people try to keep this country working at its prime when trouble occurs? People do not want to see this nation fall but in the end it

This essay is composed of facts supporting that prayer in Public Schools would be beneficial for the children and the United States of America. Prayer is an address to God or a god in word or thoughts. The Anti- Defamation League states that, “A moment of silence will inevitably be unconstitutional or the purpose and effect of such moments of silence are invariably to advance religion. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down requiring a moment of silence which students could use for silent prayer or meditation because it was enacted for the purpose of advancing religion. The Supreme Court has not determined if a moment of silence can ever be

In the first amendment, it is stated that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the exercise thereof.”. From this, it made clear that the founding fathers’ original intent was for the Government to take a neutral position with respect to religion; the Government was not to favor any one religion over another. “Almighty God we acknowledge our independence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parent, our teachers and our Country. Amen.” In 1951, that prayer was conducted in class every morning in all New York public schools as ordered by New York State Board of Regents; it was called a “nondenominational prayer”. The short prayer was created with the intent of developing students’ moral

It’s a reasonable question Hoosiers might ask after my office filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could decide whether the widespread practice of prayer at the start of legislative meetings is constitutional. In analyzing the long history and tradition of opening meetings with prayer, our brief contends that prayers initiated by citizens themselves — including prayers that invoke God, Jesus, Allah and other deities — do not violate the First Amendment prohibition on government establishing religion. Our brief argues government assemblies are not proselytizing if they allow citizen expression of such prayers at the start of meetings. The Texas attorney general co-authored our brief and a bipartisan group of AGs from 21 other states signed it, reflecting the legal importance of the question.

One of the most highly debated aspects of American life and liberty is religion. America’s foundation is based upon the idea that religion should be a freedom and a choice of the person involved, not a requirement by the government. Yet religion is one of the very things to United States was founded on. In the last half of the 20th century, the differing opinions Americans held on religious conviction became an ongoing debate on where and when is the right time to observe one’s faith. Most notably this debate extended to the public schools. One of the most prominent cases was that of Engel v. Vitale. The court case of Engel v. Vitale became known as the School Prayer decision and was the first of its kind in the American judicial

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

Should prayer be allowed in public schools? This is a question with a highly controversial answer. There are many different angles to this question with varying ideas and opinions that never seem to agree with one another. The issue of prayer in public schools has, and will continue to be, at the center of many controversial debates. Just consider the fact that public educational system in United States is a secular or non-religious one that is quick to shut down any religious actions. This is the main reason why it is so difficult to bring forth any kind of change that will bridge the gap between school and religion. There have been several attempts over the years to use the power of the first amendment of the United States constitution which expresses the right to freedom of speech and religion to justify prayer in schools. Although the first amendment clearly sets out to protect religion from government intervention, the U.S Supreme court has ruled prayer in public school “unconstitutional” because it violates the separation of the church and the state.

Not so long ago, a typical school day would begin with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer. Today, a simple prayer is considered offensive and unconstitutional. A prayer is meant to be a conversation with God; a personal connection to a sovereign being of choice. I personally believe that prayer is beneficial. Prayer calms my mind and gives me the chance to thank God for all of his blessings. Granted, not everyone believes in the same God that I do. I believe most people would probably agree that there is some form of higher power that everyone has to answer to. One of the things that I love about being an American, are the freedoms that I have. I am free to worship the God I choose and to pray at anytime or any place that I choose.

Allowing prayer in public schools remains a divisive and extremely passionate issue for various individuals. Americans have voted against the guiding principles for prayer in school, but the question, "should prayer be allowed in school?" continues to arise. Prayer in public schools has become one of the most controversial issues in the United States today. What keeps this matter boiling is the fear that a child will be influenced, or even worse, “offended” by another’s spiritual beliefs. By removing school prayer, the U.S Supreme Court has misconstrued the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. In order to protect our neighbor’s feelings, we have replaced the ingredients of religion and prayer in our schools with teen pregnancy, increased alcohol and drug use, sex, suicide, school shootings, and last but not least, an excessive amount of entitlement. Our children need something bigger than themselves to turn to when they are faced with difficult times. A simple two minute moment of silence would allow believers and non-believers the opportunity to meditate each morning and set the mood for the remainder of the day.

How can we say that the United States is a free country when we can not openly express our religious beliefs in public? Prayer within public schools has begun a significant debate amongst people in society today. This has been a controversial topic in the United States for approximately over 50 years. Many argue whether or not it is socially appropriate to have education and religion in the same place. People have made various reasons about why or why not prayer should be prohibited in public schools. There have been countless court cases and discussions all over the nation regarding this topic. According to Karen Ridder, “A prayer in New York caused the first U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on prayer in public schools: Even though it was the middle of the Cold War, a non-denominational, optional prayer known as The Regent’s Prayer got caught up in the 1962 case of Engle v. Vitale” (Ridder). This comes to show how the prohibition of school prayer has been an issue for a significant amount of time. While this is a very disputatious topic, prayer should be allowed in public schools because students should be able to freely express their beliefs.

The question of the constitutionality of prayer in our public schools and public school system has been an ongoing controversy for the past three decades. There is only one way to end the controversy, and it is pertinent to the well being of our youth and our nation. We must keep church and state forever separate. Any form of prayer in the public school system is an explicit violation of the first amendment, is coercive, and harmful to not only our nations children, but to the nation itself. The question of prayer in school should never have even been a question, and the fact that it remains three decades later is nothing short of unfaithful to the constitution. One could even go so far as to call this issue unpatriotic, as we are

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.