ipl-logo

The Importance Of Prayer In Schools

756 Words4 Pages

Why can’t we pray? For years now religion in school has been a major problem all over the United States. People are arguing whether or not to allow prayer and religion in schools. Many schools and communities keep their traditions by praying before and after games and praying during potluck meals. Many places religion is not a problem because the overall student population is Christian but this isn’t always the case in every school. This is when the best interest of the students’ needs to be taken into consideration. Many people don’t understand the complexity of the law about religion in school, how it affects the students not to have it, and what the disadvantages are of keeping prayer out of schools. The law against prayer in school may seem ridiculous to many. Most don’t understand what the law is completely advising. The law does not take away the students right of Freedom of speech. The law does however take away the ability of the school to organize part of the school day for students to pray Christian prayers alone (Robinson). The schools are not allowed to single out just Christian prayers if they wish to talk about prayer they must include prayers from various other religions (Robinson). This is all part of the separation of church and state. The separation of church and state started originally as Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist church in 1801 (Alliance). It was to handle the government interference in the public expression of faith (Alliance).

Show More
Related

  • Santa Fe High School Case Summary

    599 Words  | 3 Pages

    Santa Fe High School changed the policy by establishing elections of spokesperson and voting whether the prayers should be delivered. A majority of the students voted for continuation of prayers and elected a student to deliver them. The District Court upheld the policy but permitted only nonsectarian, no proselytizing prayers. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the previous and current versions of the school’s prayer policy were invalid. Santa Fe Independent School District petitioned for a writ of certiorari arguing that the new policy did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

    Read More

  • Engel V. Vitale: Prayer In The Public School

    859 Words  | 4 Pages

    Engel v. Vitale: Prayer in the Public Schools is a book written by Julia C. Loren. Loren’s main purpose for writing this book is to inform us about the history of the Engel v. Vitale trial, an important trial which determined that prayer was not acceptable in the public schools quote as the book says the “In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down one of its most controversial decisions of the twentieth century.” In this book, Loren was not bias towards either Engel’s or Vitale’s side of the case as she did not appear to be very fond of one particular side and gave information regarding both sides of the case. With that being said, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history or even the Engel v. Vitale case itself because the author was very straightforward in telling about both sides of the case without leaving anything out. Engel v. Vitale:

    Read More

  • Morse Vs Frederick Case Analysis

    166 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the Opinion Announcement of Morse v. Frederick, Justice Roberts said, "...students do not shed their First Amendments rights at the schoolhouse gate... The rights of students at {a} school are not the same as the rights of adults in the community at large" (Morse). The point he is getting across is that even though students still have their first amendment right at school it is more filtered as they are required to follow school policy (Morse). In the case of Morse v Frederick, his first amendment was not broken as he was promoting illegal drug use at a school event which is explicitly prohibited at school no matter if at school grounds or not (Morse). From this case, it is further understood that students still have some right to be free

    Read More

  • Engel Vs Vitale Summary

    1682 Words  | 7 Pages

    an you imagine yourself having to start your daily school routine with a prayer? This became a serious question to be taken up by the Supreme Court of the US, in November of 1951. Following an increase in in juvenile crime (many believe caused by the Korean War). The New York Board of Regents adopted a prayer to be recited in NY public schools (Dierenfield 67). The prayer was established because “...the regents believed that such a program would ensure that school children would acquire ‘respect for lawful authority and obedience to law’ ”

    Read More

  • Engel V. Vitale Summary

    426 Words  | 2 Pages

    The reasoning behind that decision was that the provision allowing students to absent themselves from that activity did not make that law constitutional. The purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent government interference with religion (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). Justice Douglas concurred with what the court had found. He took a broader view of the Establishment Clause, arguing that any type of public promotion of religion, including giving financial aid to religious schools, violates the establishment clause (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). I would agree with this decision in some ways, but there are some that I do not agree with.

    Read More

  • Westside Community Schools Case Study

    660 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The students alleged that Westside 's refusal violated the Equal Access Act, which requires that schools in receipt of federal funds provide "equal access" to student groups seeking to express "religious, political, philosophical, or other content" messages” (Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens by and Through Mergens). Many still argue today that Westside 's prohibition against the Christian club, consistent with the Establishment Clause, makes the Equal Access Act unconstitutional.

    Read More

  • Essay On Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom

    527 Words  | 3 Pages

    They have taken religion out of all schools in any degree. Religion is what make our country, it’s why we are here today. Whether you agree with it or not that’s what helped form our nation as we know it. In our day it has become our role to stand firm in defending religion. Not only for our selves and the LDS Church, but for all

    Read More

  • Summary Of Thomas Jefferson's Letter To The Danbury Baptists

    729 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although the phrase the separation of church and state is frequently misunderstood it is extremely important to know the meaning of this phrase. This is the distance between organized religion and the national state, and to sum this phrase up religious groups will not control the government and they will not dictate the government. I personally think the signers of thought the separation of the church and state was a good idea only because this keeps down confusion and it prevents individuals from being upset and thinking that they are being taxed for the purpose of someone else’s religious hospitals, schools, or

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Constitution And The Declaration Of Independence

    609 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some of us now do not believe that there should be separation. Some feel that there should be religion be in public schools if brought up in conversation and then there are the ones that feel that religion should not be in public schools so that they or others would get upset with hearing things they do not believe

    Read More

  • 14th Amendment In Schools

    540 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gathercoal (2001) reminds school leaders that the Supreme Court has upheld schools may limit an individual’s right to an education if they violate one of four underlying responsibilities. Students right to an education can be limited if they willfully cause property loss or damage. They must follow rules which have a legitimate educational purpose. Students rights can also be limited if they pose a health and safety risk to themselves or others. Finally students may not cause a serious disruption to the educational process.

    Read More

  • Mandatory Pledge Of Allegiance

    844 Words  | 4 Pages

    America is often referred to as the “melting pot” because it was built on many different nationalities. For centuries it has been common place that school students stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance before beginning classes. In the past, the courts have been challenged to rule whether students are required to recite, stand during the pledge, or can remain quietly seated. This has become a monumental task for the courts to rule in favor or against these actions due to the various beliefs and traditions of the school population. Due to the controversy, students in schools should not be required to recite or stand during the Pledge of Allegiance because the act itself denies students the right to exercise their First Amendment rights to

    Read More

  • Government-Written Prayer Should Not Be Interpreted In Public Schools

    2001 Words  | 9 Pages

    Although public school prayers violate the separation of church and state, that doesn’t mean the U.S supreme court can replace freedom of religion with freedom from religion. Most of them argue the gov’t is meant for everyone, it should be neutral while protecting all. Alabama, Montana, north Dakota and Maryland are the only state out of 54 states to allow public prayer and religious groups, club and programs in public schools, but on conditions like students will not be forced to cooperate in prayer, furthermore students are allowed to have a moment of silence (in Virginia) and teaching of the positive-negative side of different religion. There is a possibility someday, someone will sue a Virginia school because of it moment of silence time. The justice system needs to draw a clear line between religion and the people 's

    Read More

  • Engel V Vitale

    650 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1951, the following prayer was written that was intended to be recited each morning as part of the regents’ Statement of Moral and Spiritual Training in the Schools: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.” Because the regents made the recitation of the prayer each day entirely optional to the school boards and the individual families of students, many New York school districts shunned the prayer because of their eclectic student bodies. Not only was the state religiously and ethnically diverse, but religious instruction in state schools was declared unconstitutional by the 1948 Supreme Court decision in the McCollum vs. Board of Education case. Because of the constantly increasing controversy about religious teaching in public schools, at least 90% of New York districts were not using the prayer by the late 1950s. Then, in 1958, five parents (of varying religions and ethnicities) of students within the district filed a lawsuit to stop the use of the prayer in their schools.

    Read More

  • School Sponsored Prayer In The 1960's

    435 Words  | 2 Pages

    As we all know today’s school are a lot different than those in the 1960’s. During the 1960’s is was tradition to open each and every day with a nondenominational prayer, along with the Pledge of Allegiance. Today, prayer is accepted in schools as long as it is led by the student themselves, and not the teacher. In 1962 the case of Engel vs. Vitale went to the Supreme Court based off the idea of whether school sponsored prayer violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause. At this time there was a general law in New York State that required every school within the state to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer that did not restrict denomination.

    Read More

  • Essay On Religious Freedom In America

    1407 Words  | 6 Pages

    There are many views and opinions of the state of the United States on this subject. It has long been a puzzling issue that never seems to seize. America should have religious freedom, because it is a constitutional right to Americans. Prayer in school, gay marriage, and governmental control, are among some of the main issues in this topic.

    Read More

More about The Importance Of Prayer In Schools

Open Document