School prayer: history, debates, and constitutional implications

Prayer in School is a Direct Violation of the Constitutional Mandate of Separation of Church and State

This paper presents a discussion about school prayer. The author of this paper believes that prayer in school will be a direct violation of the constitutional mandate that church and state remain separated. There were three sources used to complete this paper.

OUR FOUNDING FATHERS ESTABLISHED the GUIDELINE for a REASON

For many years now, the issue of school prayer has made the forefront to the news. We hear that students defy direct orders from school officials and stand to recite the Lord's Prayer at graduation. We hear about principals being hauled into court by the ACLU for allowing students to pray on campus. It is a volatile issue that remains close to the heart on both sides of the argument. The bottom line, however, is that America proudly waves its diversity banner to the rest of the world. We brag about the fact that we welcome and encourage diversity and we are founded on the premise that freedom of religion should be a right of every person. Our very constitution, which is used as the blueprint for our nation, insists that church and state forever be separate entities. Our founding fathers saw into the future and realized what kinds of problems would occur if the most diversity welcoming nation on earth, suddenly began mixing religion with government. Because of what we represent as a nation, we can never allow prayer in our public school system. To do so will violate everything we represent to ourselves, our children and the world at large.

There are two main issues relating to the separation of church and state and several smaller ones. The two main elements of argument are that we cannot rightfully determine which faith should be followed in prayer, therefore, we trod on the toes of those who are studying a different denomination (Shapiro, 1995). This totally defeats the government's mandate that all are treated equally regardless of religious affiliation. To allow prayer in public school sets the stage for discriminatory actions and feelings, when the students of different faiths either try and convince the school that their prayers are what should be used, or they pull back and withdraw because of their very differences (Rice, 1997).. The second issue is the constituently mandated church and state separation allows for freedom of speech in a manner that a religious foundation might not allow.

In the first argument, we must understand the problems prayers in schools would cause. In our nations schools, we have Christians, Muslims, Jewish, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Bahais and many other religious followers. If we decide to allow prayer in public school, whose do we allow (Shapiro, 1995)? Do the Christian prayers get recited, or the Jewish ones? How will the Bahai's feel when they are told they can pray to Jesus but Bahallua is ignored? This issue can easily extrapolate into friction that grows as the factions and faiths square off, vying for administrative support (Shapiro, 1995). One only has to study the history of the world to realize that Holy Wars were based in this very type of disagreement. The Holy Wars are an incredibly solid reminder of why church and state must remain separated, and allowing prayer into school starts the ball rolling for the meshing to begin. We can look across the ocean to Ireland to be reminded of what trouble religious differences can cause. Do we really want to bring that type of animosity into our public school system in the name of allowing prayer? While initially the changes may seem innocuous, in that the schools might decide not to choose a faith to allow, but instead to tell students that they can say their own prayers quietly, however, it will not take long for the public reciting to begin. And then we have the atheists. Are we supposed to guarantee a free public education to all who live here; then force them to be subjected to a belief in a higher power whether they want to or not? The laws in this nation mandate compulsory school attendance. How can we in good conscious force every youngster to come to school, or face legal action, and then tell him or her they have to be subjected to the worship of a higher power that they do not believe in? If we are to maintain the respect for differences and continue to celebrate diversity we must not let prayers into our schools. To do so will invite the eventual backward motion and we will find ourselves returned to the times that minorities were mistreated for being different, only this time it will be based in religious differences. This was one of the things meant to be avoided by the constitution mandate of separating church and state.

If we uncover the initial understanding of the separation of church and state, we will discover that it implies a protection from discrimination by insisting that the non-religious state, which by law treats everyone equally, must be maintained as the powers of the public school system (Rice, 1997).

The separation of church and state has become the crux of school prayer controversy across the country, but it's really a simple concept. We are not supposed to mesh church and state, period. The founding fathers that penned the constitution, did not allow for exceptions, nor did they suggest that we revisit the issue at any time. The simple matter of separation was a mandate, and done for the protection of the rights to freedom of expression for all who live here. The schools are not only governed by the state, the buildings themselves are in fact owned by the state. The teachers are government employees as are the many administrators and workers that take part in providing millions of students with educations.

During many government meetings, we witness the use of prayer. Some may say that uttering prayers in government meetings is not obeying the separation of church and state. This may hold true in many areas of life, however, there is a fundamental difference between that and allowing prayer in school. Nobody is forced by law to attend a public or government meeting. We do force students between certain ages to attend school.

Many schools are contemplating a moment of silence, advocates of school prayer point to this as a solution for the varied faiths as well as the atheists rights. This would be a fair proposal if we could guarantee it would never expand to led prayers in the classrooms and offices. In addition it would work if we could insure that no student ever tried to sway a friend to pray with him and with his faith.