Voluntary Prayer in Public Schools
Denying voluntary prayer or a moment of silence in public schools forthose who are willing to pray is an injustice. The injustice comes simplyfrom the fact that denying voluntary school prayer is not constitutional.Voluntary prayer in public schools has been a controversial issue since the1962 Engle v Vitale court case that held, in essence, that reciting theRegent's Prayer in a public school was unconstitutional. Since this rulingthere have been numerous court decisions, which may seem to come downagainst school prayer, giving ammunition to opponents of voluntary prayerin public schools. The main thrust of lawsuits involving prayer in publicschools harkens back to the idea of Separation of Church and State. Inorder to argue for voluntary prayer in public schools, it is firstnecessary to look at the idea Separation of Church and State and its role,if any, in the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the nation. Then it isnecessary to analyze the "Establishment Clause" and the "Free Exercise"clause in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," clause as well asthe Tenth Amendment, which assigns powers to the states. Finally, it isnecessary to look at landmark court cases, particularly Engel v V
Vincent established that school districts must permit religious speech tothe extent that it allows other speech. Religion and the United States have always been intertwined. The rumor alarmed the Baptists who knew the negative effects astate-established church could have on the people ( The myth 2000). Constitution does not prohibit a union of religion andgovernment. Students can and have as much rightto be involved in individual or group prayer as other activities. Prayer would be considered free speech. Withthese historical facts in mind, it is important to understand what the U. Throughout the years there have been many interpretations of the FirstAmendment. In Board of Education of the Westside Community School vMergens states that there is a difference between government speechendorsing religion, which is protected by the Establishment Clause and FreeSpeech, protected by the "Free Exercise" clause. Many other states continued to have some sort of officialsanctions for religious belief (Jenkins 2003). " The Supreme Court has not ruled that voluntary school prayer isunconstitutional. In 1789 when theConstitutional Convention convened, three New England states had a statereligion. Contrary to what the public and public school officialsbelieve, Engle v Vitale did not ban prayer from public schools, albeit theruling may have eroded the meaning of the Establishment Clause.
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