The prayer in school debate began in 1960. The case brought before the courts took place in Baltimore, Maryland,
where Madalyn Murray O'Hair stated her son was forced to take part in school prayer. Madalyn's argument centered around the
principle of the Separation of church and state. Her lawsuit, combined with the actions of the American Atheist Organization
convinced the courts to remove prayer from schools in the sense that it could not be led by any member of the faculty.
Prayer has since been removed in many instances from the Commencements in Public schools. If prayer is going to happen,
it must be led by the students and generally must be silent. The prayer in school debate has grown and the most recent case
barred clergy led prayer invocations and benedictions at public graduation ceremonies.
Thank goodness some schools have chosen to ignore the laws and still have a prayer before sporting events, but this is
very rare. Most schools take a stance and say it is no longer a debate. If a student wants to pray in school, it must be silent
and personal. These schools are in fear of lawsuits and public scutiny and therefore choose not to allow prayer in any public
forum.
As Christians, what is our stance on the issue? As for me, I would argue that we return prayer to Public schools. The
U.S Supreme Court has misinterpreted the establishment clause of the Constitution. A simple and voluntary school prayer does
not amount the the goverment establishing a religion; any more than do other practices common in the U.S such as the employment
of Congressional Chaplains' or government recognition of holidays with religious significance and national days of prayer.
It appears to me by banning prayer in schools, the U.S Supreme Court diminishes the religious freedom of students who
would like to pray; therefore violating the Constitution regarding freedom of religion.
It is certainly evident that prayer is needed in schools today; if we look at the rise of school shootings, increased
drug use, alcoholism, teen pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. Even with these statistics, people continue to argue
prayer in school based on being a violation of the Separation of Church and State. If we would look at the First amendment,
the words Separation of Church and State does not appear nor do these words appear anywhere else in the Consitution.
The First Amendment reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and
to the petition the Goverment for a redress of grievances." Actually the words "Separation of Church and State" was simply
used as a metephor by Thomas Jefferson in a letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut which was
simply underscoring the First Amendment as a guardian of the people's religious freedom from goverment interference. The First
amendment puts restrictions only on the goverment, not the people. I believe Jefferson's intentions were misinterpreted and
he never intended the words "Separation of Church and State" to be taken out of context and used as a subsitute for the First
Amendment, but for all practical purposes is what the courts have done.
People against prayer in schools also argue that because public schools are goverment funded, prayer led by school officials
or incorporated into the school routine amounts to government established religion. "The Metephor of a 'Wall of Separation'
is bad history and worse law. It has made a positive chaos out of court rulings. It should be explicitly abandoned." Cheif
Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, William Rehinquist.
In 1993, The Justices refused to review a federal appeals court ruling in a Texas case that allowed student led
prayers at graduation ceremonies. That appeals court ruling which is binding law in Louisiana and Mississippi, conflicts with
another Federal appeals courts decision barring student led graduation prayers in nine western states. To me, this was a huge
step into getting prayer back into the schools; however, we have a long road ahead of us. Convincing the Supreme Court that
the words of Thomas Jefferson written in 1802 were misinterpreted is a very tall task. But, nobody said it was going to be
easy.