Prayer in schools
...sel of the American Center for law and Justice, argued that the policy of the Santa Fe Independent School District in Galveston County, Texas, does not violate the constitution’s establishment clause, which prohibits governmental establishment of religion. Are prayers at public school football games a matter of free speech or an unconstitutional form of coercion for nonbelievers attending the games (Courts split ... 1)? Lawyers offered oral arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court justices on March 29th. Sekulow said the policy, which permits a student elected by the student body to give a secular “message” or “prayer” before football games, could involve a religious statement by a student but that the school district has a “hands-off approach” regarding the content. Chief Justice William questioned the difference between student involvement in a required class and an extra curricular football game. “Am I wrong in saying no one is required to go to a football game?” Rehnquist asked. Sekulow argued that striking down the policy because it permits a religious message would be a form of censorship (Courts split ... 2). American Civil Liberties Union said that the reason prayer should be allowed at public-school football games, was because children need that extra protection.” On June 17, 1963, the United States Supreme Court rendered its opinion. By an overwhelming vote of 8 to 1, the Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading and prayer exercises were unconstitutional (Murray 29). The Supreme Court had outlawed voluntary prayer in public schools causing 39 million students to be forbidden to do what they and their predecessors had been doing since the founding of our nation – publicly calling upon the name of the Lord at the beginning of each school day. At the time of the decision, there were already eleven states that did not permit Bible readings (Murray 30). The judgment of the Supreme Court has affected many areas across the nation. One Chicago high school even removed a praying mantis from its biology class. The first lines of the first Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise there of.” The one thread that runs through the entire Supreme Court decision is that of secularism. Secularization is the social or political process of rejecting all forms of religious element within public education and other civic institutions. The Supreme Court’s decision on school prayer was about history as well as law. The intention in the First Amendment was to assure freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. Over the years things have started to turn. William J. Murray whose mother took the issue of school prayer to the Supreme Court has taken an ironic twist of history. William has become a passionate advocate for the restoration of prayer in public schools. Murray states “As a child I supported the Court’s decision. As an adult, I have come to see it as critically flowed, and I regret the role as the plaintiff.” A recent statistical analysis by David Barton graphically illustrates how America has plummeted from righteous living, prosperity and success in the last quarter Century (Banning Prayer ... 1). On a graph created by Mr. Barton, America’s moral decline rapidly accelerated following one event – the U.S. Supreme Court’s removal of prayer from our nation’s schools. Summed up in a nutshell the New York school children which prompted Engel vs. Vitale had simply prayed the Regent’s prayer. America has experienced radical decline in each of the four areas which children’s prayer touched upon: youth, family, education, and national life. Minor recovery has occurred only since 1980 when the election of President Reagan brought forth a renewed emphasis on “traditional” values (Banning Prayer ... 1). Prayer is the heart of every religion and is central to human life...