The Pledge of Allegiance, as it was recited by generations of school children, before Congress inserted a religious phrase, "under God," in 1954.
Whenever I argue about religion and christianity here in the U.S.A. the thought of allowing prayer in public schools comes up all the time. Most christians believe that they should allow there children to pray in school because they think that incidents like the high school shooting down in Littleton, CO for example wouldn't have happen if things like the ten commandments posted on every school building and prayer in schools existed.
To me, that is total B.S.!
Prayer or any types of religious activity should not happen in school, in schools hours at all. Here are my reasons.
1.) Religion should be some type of personal agenda for everyone, not public. Therefore prayer should be private. Public schools are there to teach kids and adolecent adults about math, science, history, etc. so they won't wind up being ignorant in real world so to speak. If you put prayer and religion into public schools, there will be some alienation going on in the schools then. There will be walls build between students. No one wouldn't be able to learn anything from each other.
2.) Just because incidents like the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton Colorado back in April 1999 happened isn't a excuse to allow prayer in public schools. I'm not trying to defend incidents like the high school shootings, but I don't see how religion and prayer in public schools would help stop that. Also, I know many crimes that happens in public schools that are religion related. About 5 years ago, a friend and I witnessed a christian guy beating up one of our friends because he was gay. We know he was christian because he kept telling everyone in school about the bible and what happens when you disobey god and all that crap.
3.) What exactly are christians doing when they are bitching at schools and government to allow prayer and other religious stuff in public schools. When they mean that they want rights to pray in a public school. Do they mean just themselves or everyone elses religion should be allowed. Personally, I think that if the schools or government is going to allow christians to pray in public schools, then they should give every other religious people (hindus, muslims/islamics, buddhist, etc.), or the non-religious and atheist the same right too. I don't think that it would be fair for christians to have religious rights in schools, but not other religious people or atheists. It also would be an insult on other people that are non-christians as well if they let only christians pray in public schools and not other religious people that are non-christians.
4.) If any christian wants their child to pray in a school without the harassment from teachers that have to force the church/school seperation laws, why not just spend money and assign them to a religious private schools or something like that? That's why they exist. That way, they don't have to worry about teachers bugging them about praying in schools in the first place.
Here are some rules and quotes from the government and famous people in history that help keep church and state seperated forever I hope
- Supreme Court of Wisconsin, Weiss v. District Board, March 18, 1890
"Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate."
- Ulysses S. Grant, "The President's Speech at Des Moines" (1875)
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
- First Amendment, Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution
"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law `respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and state."
- President Thomas Jefferson, 1802 letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut
Supreme Court Cases Opposing Religious Worship in Schools McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203, 212 (1948). Struck down religious instruction in public schools. The case involved school-sponsored religious instruction in which the sole nonreligious student, Jim McCollum, was placed in detention and persecuted by schoolmates in Champaign,Illinois. Tudor v. Board of Education of Rutherford, 14 J.N. 31 (1953), cert. denied 348 U.S. 816 (1954).
Let stand a lower court ruling that the practice of allowing volunteers to dsitribute Gideon Bibles at public school was unconstitutional. Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962).
Declared prayers in public school unconstitutional. Abington Township School District v. Schempp, 374. U.S. 203 (1963).
Declared unconstitutional devotional Bible reading and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in public schools. Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S., 97, 104 (1968).
Struck down state law forbidding schools to teach the science of evolution. Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980).
Declared unconstitutional the posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 72 (1985).
Overturned law requiring daily "period of silence not to exceed one minute... for meditation or daily prayer." Jager v. Douglas County School District, 862 F.2d 824 (11th Cir.), Cert. den. 490 U.S. 1090 (1989).
Let stand a lower court ruling in Georgia that pre-game invocations at high school football games are unconstitutional. Lee v. Weisman, 120 L.E. 2d 467/ 112 S.C.T. 2649 (1992).
Ruled prayers at public school graduations an impermissible establishment of religion. Berger v. Rensselaer, 982 F.2d, 1160 (7th Cir.) Cert. denied. 124 L.E. 2d 254 (1993). Let stand ruling barring access to Gideons to pass out bibles in Indiana schools.
