FREE ESSAY ON PRAYER IN SCHOOL

PRAYER IN SCHOOL

What would happen if you were caught with a bag of pot at school?? What about a gun?? Now
what do you think would happen if you were caught giving thanks for your food in the
school cafeteria, or reading your Bible in your spare time?? Since 1962 the Supreme Court
has prohibited prayer, bible reading, a moment of silence, and even posting the Ten
Commandments on a school bulletin board. In Jackson, Miss., a principal was fired for
allowing students to read a prayer over the intercom. In Missouri, a student got
detention for praying over his lunch. A second-grader in New York was told the storybook
she brought to share with her class was inappropriate because it contained the dreaded
G-word. In 1991, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned a death sentence because the
prosecutor quoted Leviticus to the jury.
James Traficant, State Representative of Ohio, stated "A Congress that allows God to be
banned from our schools while our schools can teach about cults, Hitler and even devil
worship is wrong, out of touch, and needs some common sense." 
Although the examples I've told you about are true, prayer in a sense is allowed in
public school systems- on school busses, at the flag-pole, and in student religious
clubs. However, it is not normally permitted in the classroom itself when a class is in
session. Why can we teach Atheism, the belief that God does not exist, and the well known
evolution theory of Charles Darwin that says that man originated from apes but not speak
of Jesus Christ, the one so many of us believe in. 
This would violate the principle of church-state separation, which is defined by court
interpretations of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This requires that public
school teachers, principals, and boards are religiously neutral. They may not promote a
particular religion as being superior to any other, or even promote religion in general
as being superior. I feel that this is saying our teacher and principals who are suppose
to be role models are being forced to hide their religious beliefs when entering their
classroom.
The law prohibits public schools from requiring students to engage in a moment of silence
during which they could pray meditate, plan their day, or engage in any other silent
mental activity. The law prohibits prayers before Board of Education meetings, prohibits
any type of coach to take place in a team prayer or allowing prayer to become part of the
game format. In the survey given to this class, everyone in this class said they felt
that, we as students, should have the right to choose to join in a school prayer. So why
don't Congress and the representatives come to us as students, since this law does apply
to us? 
You may ask, "What does the Constitution allow?" Prayer at special ceremonies, such as
graduation, is allowed only if it is initiated by students and not a teacher. It allows
teachers to teach the positive and negative effects of religion on society in history and
literature. It allows Bible study club or any other religious club, but according to the
Equal Access Act of 1984, group meetings must be voluntary and student initiated. There
must be no "sponsorship" of the meetings by the school. Students can organize prayers on
school property outside the classroom, they can carry Bible texts to and in school. 
The constitution can require schools to have their teachers explain the theory of
evolution, even though an individual teacher might reject the theory on personal
religious grounds and last teachers may be prohibited from displaying a Bible on their
desk or from placing religious posters on the classroom walls and or in their own
personal office. This would indicate state support for a specific religion. 
In conclusion, the law guarantees students fundamental religious freedoms while requiring
the school to maintain a religiously neutral environment. The Natural Prayer Project,
suggested by Colin Powell, recommends that schools have a simple moment of silence when
students would then have the right to pray, meditate, contemplate or study. I leave you
with this passage from Powell's book titled "An Outrageous Idea: Natural Prayer" ... "We
have forgotten that we are all in this together. And we keep separating ourselves from
ourselves, by color, popularity, clothes, money, creed, greed, boundaries, age, and so on
and on. We need something to pull us all together. Natural Prayer could be that miracle.
It includes "everyone, even the non-believers."