Well, it had to happen eventually, and boom, it happened. A friend invited me to become a “fan” of Prayer in School. I’m a “fan” of an almost random collection of things, including Legos, Joe Satriani, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. One more couldn’t hurt, right?
I’m certainly not against prayer in school. In fact, as a strong believer in freedom I think it is essential that people be free from government interference (within limits) to follow the “dictates of their consciences.” To be more specific: While I do not believe you are entitled to your opinion, I also do not think it is the government’s job to fix it. You have a right to be free of government interference in what you believe, think, and even do, provided you don’t initiate the use of force against another person. At that point the government can step in. Deciding where that point is can be a thorny exercise, of course.
But back to prayer in school. What exactly would I be signing up for? I visit the page and click Info. Here’s what it says at the time of writing.
This is to see how many people belive [sic] that prayer should be allowed back into public school.
“Allowed back?” I have made the point elsewhere that prayer and Bible reading are not against the law in schools. In fact, courts in the United States have consistently held that religious expression by students cannot be suppressed or abridged unless it can be shown to cause substantial disruption. Essentially you are free to pray, but not if you disrupt classes or block a fire exit. You can even form student prayer groups and meet on school grounds thanks to the Federal Equal Access Act, passed back in 1984.
I have also argued elsewhere that groups like this fall into two categories: those that genuinely misunderstand the current laws, and those who seek to use government to promote their views over the views of others.
I agree with the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church, and the American Baptist Churches that “current law quite sufficiently provides adequate constitutional and statutory protections against violations of the right of voluntary prayer.” This statement comes from a letter to which the before mentioned organizations were signatories.
Given that I believe the current laws are consistent with the Constitution and adequate to protect voluntary prayer, and given that I do not want government to promulgate values, I cannot become a “fan” of the group. In fact, I’m a bit surprised anyone is.
Their current membership is 131,648. I find myself wondering what these folks think they are signing up to support. Let’s read! To avoid accusations of cherry-picking, I’ll just grab the first three posts from the Wall, at the time of writing, verbatim and in order. I don’t give the full names, but you can visit the site (linked at the start of this note) to read for yourself.
Cathy D: You know the shirt may say, God why do u allow so much violence in our schools, but when God is not allowed in the schools, how do they expect him to help…
Cathy D: We need PRAYER back in our schools, in our lives, and homes. Some children would never hear a prayer but at school. Let’s get PRAYER back in our schools. Please Lord help us to get this done..
Andrea S: There are T-shirts you can buy that state on the front “Public Schools Need God” and has 2 letters written on the back. The letters state
“Dear God, Why do you allow so much violence in our schools? Sincerely Yours, A Concerned Student….
Dear Concerned Student, I am not allowed in school. Sincerely Yours, God.”
It says it all. When people started stepping and having God removed from our schools, we seemed to have a lot more tragedies across the nation. We need God in our schools and in our country. I do not understand why people are trying to throw Him out when He is what this country was initially founded upon.. It’s a shame..
Cathy D specifically writes “Some children would never hear a prayer but at school.” That is, she isn’t seeking a right for students to pray in school (which they already have), she wants the students to hear a school-sanctioned prayer whether or not their parents or guardians do. If this sounds noble to you, you haven’t thought it through. Please read the articles I linked above.
Andera S gives the oft-repeated argument that school violence is linked to the removal of school-sponsored prayer. Again, I covered that before. To my knowledge no causal link has been established, and many of the arguments about specific social decay (teen pregnancy, divorce, violent crime) are not supported by easily-available evidence.
So, as someone who values freedom, including religious freedom, this group is not for me.
