Since the decision in 1962, on taking God out of the classroom, there has
been much debate whether prayer in schools should be allowed. Two of
America's most valued freedoms are the freedoms of speech and of religion.
Because they are such fundamental freedoms in this country, debates over their
scope and limitations have often been very impassioned. From teachers being
fired for praying with students to students who couldn't give a commencement
speech because of it religious overtures, school prayer has been an issue of
One such debate is the question of whether or not prayer should be mandated
in public schools. This is not merely a religious or educational topic, however; it is
also a hotly debated political issue. On one side are conservatives who believe
that encouraging prayer will save the nation's morality. On the other are liberals
who fear enforced prayers would impede students' religious rights. "Many people
see organized prayer in schools as a necessary part of the struggle to curtail
violence, drug abuse, and other social ills that plague our nation in general and
schools in particular."(1) Regardless of the debate, the law already protects
students' rights to voluntary prayer in the schools, and any further measures to
mandate prayers would be detrimental to the freedoms students should be able
The conservative position is that people need moral guidance, such as daily
prayer in school. Jesse Helms, a conservative senator from North Carolina,
says that the nation is in "a struggle for the soul of America".(2) This is a
view of many conservatives' concerns: that is, the nation is out of
control, and the best way to fix the problem is to "take traditional morality
out of government- imposed exile and...put it back in the place
...