According to the First Amendment of the Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise there of…”(Patterson A-11). The writers of the constitution made it an important point in protecting freedom of religion. The writers then even stressed the importance of being able to be any religion that suited a person. “The First Amendment removes government from the realm of religious belief and practice so that the state can neither subvert nor manipulate religion to serve secular, public ends”(Keynes and Miller 177). It is pure ignorance for someone to think that one religion is accepted throughout the world. This very reason is why prayer should not be in school. When saying a prayer in an organized group at school, it is impossible to not discriminate against a person’s religion. Allowing prayer in school is like losing a precious jewel that can never be found again. Prayer in school results in students losing their rights, losing their sense of unity, and losing their strong beliefs of their faith. These are all things that once lost are difficult to find again.
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In those school districts that do not abide by the law, school children continue to be prosecuted today”(Ravitch 3). “Those concerned with pushing governmentally sanctioned religious exercises in the public schools, knowingly or unknowingly would lessen this power of the schools and weaken the very institution which has served our heterogeneous society as well” (Boles 343). Prayer should be at church or at home where there can be worship, but not in a school where an education is being earned. It gives the right for an Atheist, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu and other beliefs to have prayers over the announcements or at football games. “The key is that discrimination is a possible even likely, by product of public school religious exercises in some areas, and a school that permits such exercises should be prepared to deal effectively with any discrimination that results”(Ravitch 4). There is no room for prayer in school, but there is room for prayer in church and at home. In order to have prayer over the intercom that does not inflict on
one’s rights, there would have to be a different prayer said for each belief. Children can be very cruel and influence a child’s thoughts for the rest of their life. Does a child have a choice to leave school if the prayers at school inflict on their religious beliefs? The answer is obviously no. “In a recent Iowa case, a teacher was successful in obtaining $300 in damages for “emotional distress” resulting from exposure to prayers led by the principal during school assemblies”(McCarthy 22). citizens, the First Amendment gives the freedom to believe in what people choose to believe in without being punished for their belief. Schools are a strong stable environment for children, and with prayer in school it strips that strong foundation from them.
“A disturbing trend of discrimination results when public schools engage in religious exercises from the earliest days of such exercises, they have called attention to difference-in particular, they have pointed out those students, families, or groups who do not believe in the faith of the majority to its position on public school religious exercises”(Ravitch 4). These are all things that once lost are hard to find again.
Approximate Word count =
2085
Approximate Pages =
8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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