Verified Document

Prayer In School There Was A Time Essay

Prayer in School There was a time in America, where although the constitution guarantees a separation of church and state, many of the government institutions still encouraged or at least included components which were based on religious practices. In the past, the children of American public schools would enter the classroom, stand at attention for the pledge, and then join in with the class in prayer. In the locker room, the football or basketball coach would lead his players in a prayer both to win and that no one was injured in the game. The majority of the population of American citizens was Christian and so they would logically pray to a Christian god or to the savior of that religion. Students who did not belong to the Christian religion could either choose to abstain from this activity, or they could pray along with the other students in order to participate. That was before legislation was passed which made prayer in school to be unlawful because of various criteria and constitutional protections. After a series of lawsuits, the government got involved in the issue of school prayer, eventually passing a constitutional amendment which banned prayer in school.

During the 1970s and 1980s, there began a series of lawsuits against public schools and public school districts. Often these suits were initiated by members of the community who did not belong to the Christian religion. These families, and their political supporters, felt that their children were being forced to participate in religious practices outside of their system of beliefs. The reasoning was that this demand for participation in prayer was a violation of the constitutional sanction separating church and state. Even though prayer is officially banned in schools, there are still cases where public schools are promoting religion, particularly Christianity, and violating both the law and constitution itself (Eckholm). Because...

In the court case of Engel v. Vitale in 1962, it was determined that forcing children to participate in prayer in a public school setting was unconstitutional. Employees of the government thus could neither force or even encourage students to pray in a public school setting. The following year, Abington Township School District v. Schempp declared that school-sponsored readings from the Bible were also unconstitutional. According to the United States Department of Education:
The relationship between religion and government in the United States is governed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which both prevents the government from establishing religion and protects privately initiated religious expression and activities from government interference and discrimination. The First Amendment thus establishes certain limits on the conduct of public school officials as it relates to religious activity, including prayer (Guidance).

This position would provide the basis for the ban on school prayer, but would also lead to challenges of the ban which some claim is a violation of their right to express their religious beliefs.

For more than a decade, school prayer has been illegal in American public schools. This seemed to be the end of the debate. However, in recent years there has been a surge in the amount of suits challenging the ban on prayer in school. For example, a football team in the American south brought about a challenge. According to news reports, the team captain wished to lead the team in prayer. Over the stadium loudspeakers, a student chaplain gave a Christian…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited:

Duin, Julia. "School Prayer Charges Stir Protests." The Washington Times. 2011. Print.

Eckholm, Erik. "Battling Anew over the Place of Religion in Public Schools." The New York

Times. 2011. Print.

"Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools."
US Dept. Of Education. 2003. Web. 2012. http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Prayer in Public Schools
Words: 1005 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Prayer in Public Schools The issue of prayer in public schools has been the subject of intense debate. That is because religious people would like for their children to be able to follow their religious teachings by praying in school but people who are not religious would prefer that religion was kept out of the public schools altogether. Prayer in public schools is also sometimes a problem for people who are

School Shootings by Adults or Juveniles
Words: 2929 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

School Shootings by Adults or Juveniles [Criminal Justice] The increased number of school shooting incidents in America during the last two decades has gained public attention. Authorities are very much concerned regarding how to control these tragic incidents in the schools of different states. These shootings in schools conducted by adults or juveniles; have created an impression that schools are not a safe place for students. However, in reality the situation is not

School for Wives Is a Famous Comedy
Words: 1320 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

School for Wives is a famous comedy theatrical play of seventeenth century written in French with the name "L'ecole des femmes" by famous French play writer Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. Jean is known by his stage name Moliere and he is considered amongst one of the biggest comedy play writers of West. Moliere was born in a rich and prosperous family of Paris in January 1622 and after a short struggle, eventually

Prayers in Public Schools Should Be Allowed
Words: 1293 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Prayer in public schools has been a subject of controversy ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that "any kind of prayer, composed by public school districts, even non-denominational, is unconstitutional government sponsorship of religion" (U.S. Supreme Court Decisions on Separation of Church and State web site). The next year the Court found that "Bible reading over the school intercom was unconstitutional" because it forced a child "to participate

Prayer at Public School Events
Words: 856 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Prayer at Public School Events During the last few years there has been passionate debates concerning prayer in public schools and at public school events. Advocates believe that it is not only a moral issue but prohibition of prayer in public schools denies their right of freedom of religion, while opponents claim it is a violation of separation of state and church. In fact, over recent decades, one of the most litigious

Prayer in School Is a
Words: 1397 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

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

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now