Religion in Public Schools

The question “Should prayer be allowed in public schools” is one of the biggest debates in the minds and lips of Americans today. The open practice of religion in publicly funded schools is not a new debate, nor a simple one. Americans have been fighting about the separation of church and state issue longer than there have been Americans. These arguments have played out everywhere from the local football field to the halls of The United States Supreme Court. I believe that prayer and other forms of religious practice are best left at home and church under the guidance of parents and priests. I think this will prevent all of the problems that are associated with a non-secular approach to public education before they occur. I also believe that the Constitution of the United States has already provided it’s citizens with enough civil liberties in this area already.

One cannot begin to support or contradict an opinion without first learning the background information and history of the issue. As James Fraser, Professor of History and Education Director of the Center for Innovation in Urban Education at Northwestern University, put it:

God’s place within the public schools of the United States ha

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The Constitution of the United States has made its point, as the first amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. The prayer was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. I feel that this has left a wide margin for most ways of carrying out one’s faith. In colonial America, religion played a central role in the schools of every colony, but the understanding of religion differed substantially from colony to colony. This means that although a group of people may be able to override the minority in a vote, they can not take away the rights guaranteed by The Constitution.

The theory that American publicly funded schools are ran with today is the secular approach. As the battles wage on I am sure there will be many cases like these in the future. This is especially true with student of a different faith who attends a particular school just because of mandatory attendance laws. ” Therefore, in a sense, the Silent moment seems to be the middle ground that America so desperately needs. I am just trying to make the point that, in over 300 years of trying, the people of this land have not been able to reconcile their differences about this argument. In an article by Edd Doerr, president of the American Humanist Association, he points out that “A Majority may favor permitting prayer in public schools, but individual voluntary classroom prayer has never been held illegal-only government-sponsored or -led prayer. It unites the secular and traditional viewpoints together and allows

Finally, I would like to say that I am not against the open practice of religion.

A more modern dilemma includes cases that involve graduation prayer. The main problem I have with the traditional approach is actually about money. I know I would not want my tax dollars going to something I do not believe in, so I do not want anyone else to have to pay for my views to be taught either (1).

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