The Prayer Should Be Allowed At Public Universities, Organized Team Prayer Before And After Game? Essay

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.

He states that this is another reason why the school is not publically endorsing or coercing students to have to hear the prayers. If students don’t want to hear the pre-game “message,” they needn’t go to the games. Or they may arrive late if they wish. This isn’t entirely true because there are a great many students who must attend the games, namely, the members of the band, the cheerleaders, and the players themselves. Additionally, why should any student be in the position of having to decide whether or not he or she wants to attend a home football game because of the prayer that comes over the P.A system

Individuals participate in rituals for various reasons. As explained in Baseball Magic by George Gmelch, athletes often participate in rituals for superstition-based purposes. These athletes tend to participate in rituals or taboo in order to improve their performance on the field. Alternatively, The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual, written by Richard Sosis, describes that participation in religion-based rituals is often with the intent of improving the communication and cohesion of a group. Although Gmelch introduces ritual participation in the context of individual performance and Sosis in the context of group performance, both authors explain how rituals can benefit a given group or scenario. As an individual who has both witnessed and

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

The first clause of the first amendment to the United States Constitution reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (“First Amendment” 1). In Santa Fe, Texas, a student “chaplain” was elected by his or her classmates to give pre-game prayers at high school home football games over the school’s public address system. Several students sued, arguing that such solemnizing statements or prayers constituted an endorsement of religion, violating the Establishment Clause of the first amendment. The district countered that the pre-game invocations were a long-standing tradition in Texas communities, and because the prayer came from

The purpose of the First Amendment is to “ensure against government intrusions on personal freedoms such as freedom of religion, freedom of the press, free expression, freedom of association, and freedom of assembly (Michigan State University)”. So with the first amendment preventing against government intrusions on religion could a football coach at a public high school lead the players in prayer before a game? Well the answer is no, it is against the law for schools to sponsor or endorse speech. Therefore a coach is not allowed to engage in any activity that the school itself is forbidden from doing.

To many people, a sports game is just another thing to watch on the weekend with a group of friends cheering on your favorite team and hoping they come away from the game with the big win. To Jamie Ogden, his life revolves around sports. “Sports has always been a big part of my life.” states Jamie. His interest in sports started at a young age while watching his older brother play basketball and baseball. “I would go out and just sit and watch him practice in the driveway.” The other thing that helps clear his mind is his faith in Christ. “Faith is a huge part of my life. It is incorporated in everything I do.” While growing up, both sports and faith in Christ gave Jamie a way to make his dreams about playing professional baseball a reality.

From the Campbell University School of Law, Jennifer Irby examines the court case Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe which had occurred three months prior. The purpose of the article was to expose the reader to the complicated issue of prayer in schools with an objective viewpoint. This article is similarly set up to Speich’s article of this case as they both are broken down into parts

Many people agree against prayer in public schools, while others think that people should be able to express their religion in their own ways. In public schools, they are not allowed to hold prayers at all during the school day due to the mixed religion students that are attending the school. Over the past few years, this has become an extremely controversial issue in our nation. Many people find it proper to pray in school but many people also agree that it is extremely wrong and that if there is going to be pray in school, every religion should be addressed. The government cannot make a law about having a certain religion banned or allowed in a school setting. Children are allowed to pray on their own time as long as it does not

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

In the Article, “Professional Athletes Should Not Engage in Excessive Religious Expression,” author Jonathan Zimmerman believes that religious expression should not be involved in sports. When most players express Christian faith, it alienates other religions. Schools banned religious acts, so should sports. Zimmerman thinks that if other faiths practiced their religion on the field, the news announcers wouldn’t celebrate them as men of faith. He believes there is favoritism to one religion over the others. Zimmerman says the problem isn’t their religion but assuming that everyone follows the Christian belief.

There has been long time debate over the separation between church and state. The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment together read: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...”. In the case of Sante Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the Supreme Court upheld the findings of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In a 6-3 opinion delivered by Justice John Paul Stevens, the Court held that the District's policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games violates the Establishment Clause (Santa Fe Independent …).

In the United States, freedom of religious practice is protected by the First Amendment of the constitution, and it is often a heavily fortified right. In Matt Calkins' article indited for the Seattle Times,a football coach by the name of Joe Kennedy is struggling to stand up for his personal notions in the face of ascendancy. If personal beliefs are not imposing on others and are non-deleterious and non-disruptive, an individual should have the possibility to practice their beliefs. By an outside observer, Kennedy’s actions seem like an imposition on his players, which caused the District Superintendent Aaron Leavell to tell Kennedy that his prayers on the 50 yard line must cease immediately, saying that they were “...in violation of district

“…[F]reedom of religion means you get to exercise it — formally — wherever and whenever you please, and another [person would] say freedom of religion means you get to exercise it, but not in a public forum that ensnares those who don’t care to participate…” (Cook). This controversy over whether religion should be allowed at public school sporting events or not, only continues to worsen as the days pass. Religion, similar to sports, tends to overlap and intertwine throughout people’s daily lives. Although it’s been argued that sport and religion should be kept separate, but religion is still incorporated in other areas of society. For example, on the dollar bill, and in the Pledge of Allegiance. Therefore, with religion still playing a part in people’s life, whether they notice it or not, should grant more leniency about allowing prayers at public school sporting events.

Sports and religion are things that can go together in many ways. Sports were founded on religion and were kept strong by religion. Now sport is taking over as religion almost in today's world. Sports can promote things that are not necessarily right according to God but we participate anyway. While how the mind and body are connected give another way of how sport is. Finally, we see that sports in a modern context have changed greatly and are ritual heavy one would almost say idolic. Religion and sports are both here to stay and they really are a way something that can unite everyone.