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Picture this, the prayer amendment has just been applied to the U. S Constitution, a Jewish kid in a public school classroom is surrounded by Christian children, including a Christian teacher. The teacher begins to recite a Christian prayer, when a Jewish child gets up out of his seat and asks, "I want to be excused from the classroom." The teacher excuses the Jewish child while the other children look at him / her in disgust. After school, the same children who ride the bus with the Jewish student, persecute him for no other reason than that he has differing views than his fellow students. This behavior goes on for quite awhile until a fight erupts between the Jewish child and a Christian child.
This fight could have easily been prevented, but the school mandate of early morning prayer instigated it. Why would anyone want to implement prayer in public schools? School prayer, without a doubt, should not be put into practice by any means. It is provocative and incendiary and would only lead to conflict and discomfort. The Supreme Courts issued decrees against public school prayer obviously because it was imposing problems and a primary source of complication. Anyone who cannot discern the inevitable problems that will occur, as a result of public school prayer is living in a "fool's paradise." If prayer were to be implemented into the public school system, the scenario that was composed at the beginning of this thesis would not only be a likely occurrence, it would be an inevitable event.
The pro-prayer advocates think they have got it all figured out. They think they can install prayer into public schools, and everything will be "hunky door." The advocates of prayer claim that it will be the catalyst for moving toward a healthier nation. "Prayer at the start of the day will clear the students minds and make them start to think deeply, and in turn, will let them think freely. It will make the transition into learning smooth, and it will resolve personal issues. " (Biema 68). These claims all sound very appealing, but far-fetched at the very least.
Their assumption that a prayer at the beginning of school will clear children's minds and cause them to think freely and deeply is erroneous. Michael Koenig, a student who attended parochial school for twelve years, stated in an interview "the prayer at the beginning of school is so boring. " Based on first hand knowledge, the claim that prayer at the beginning of school will clear one's mind is indubitably false, but instead the prayer will act as soporific rigmarole that kids will endure everyday, much like the Pledge of Allegiance. Boring someone at the beginning of school, will not be an effective means to a smooth transition into learning. As far as resolving personal issues that is the boldest statement of all. Tim Madison had this to say about the issue. "It was all very well and good to sing His praises in the morning, but where was He in the afternoon when I humiliated myself by striking out at the gym class baseball game, or when the school bullies stole my lunch money?" (Madigan There are many parochial school students who probably can attest to these series of events. Supporters of the so called "problem solving" school prayer amendment expound that "our youth has lost the respect that students had for their country, their peers, and their lives.
Our society has become worse since 1962, we didn't consider what kind of a society we would have with out that respect. " (Biema 68). Essentially what they are purporting is that lack of school prayer is the impetus for the uprising of crime and the lowering of values in today's American society. It is preposterous to impute lack of school prayer as the cause of crime and low values. If people who propound school prayer believe this, than it would be in their best interest to consult some historical documents concerning this issue. "Prayer in schools in the 19 th century was so divisive it provoked civil strife in some communities. During the Protestant Catholic riots around Philadelphia in 1843, 13 people were killed after Catholics asked for their children to be excused from mandatory religious practices" (Hatfield 6).
Taking these accounts into consideration would easily cause anyone on the moot end of this dispute to lean toward the secular argument. The account took place in the 19 th century, which means there were not as many religions promulgated at that time. If this strife came about as a result of two religions' conflicting beliefs, then imagine a country where religions from Adventists to Zoroastrians are prevalent. There are new religions spawned from primordial religion every so often and with that being a fact, public schools incessantly would be susceptible to conflict. "Prayer in school" advocates contend that prayer will instill moral value in the children of public schools, and in turn will deter children from having pre-marital sex. They claim that everything bad (low SAT scores, low morale, high teen pregnancy rates) in America is because of the absence of school prayer.
That is false because there are plenty of law-abiding citizens who have grown up without ever once having to recite a prayer in school. The irony is that if prayer is the producer of good moral citizens, then why are the prisons filled with born-again Christians. There are other countries that prove that one does not have to practice prayer in schools and still have a low crime society. "Japan, where no one prays at school, has the lowest crime rate of any developed nation" (Hatfield 6). If this country wishes that the children perform well on tests, then prayer is not the answer. The answer is less praying more studying. If you want to credit the lack of prayer with anything good, then look at what this country has accomplished since 1962. "Look at the leap in civil liberties, equality, environmental awareness, women's rights, science, technology and medicine!
The polio scare is over. Fountains, buses, schools are no longer segregated by law" (Bryce 26). If anyone should instill moral values and incentive to do well on tests, it is the parents of these public school children. "Some argue that a cross-cultural prayer should be adopted" (Reitman 4). Adoption of public school prayer would be extremely difficult. Religions are just way too different in beliefs, as well as customs. "Eastern religion and western religion are not even similar in their way of prayer. " (Hatfield 6). A cross cultural prayer will make people who are non-religious, uncomfortable, and children who are extremely religious will think that the prayer is meaningless and insignificant.
Moreover, the way people pray is not universal. For instance, Muslims pray on a carpet towards Mecca, and Buddhists pray to many gods. These differences are sure to initiate segregation and alienation. Prayer does not belong in public schools. It was done away with in 1962 for a good reason: it was hurting students and society. If children are introduced to school prayer it might be appeasing to some, but it would be grievous for most.
The United States constitution espouses that there must be a separation b...
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