School prayer is a political issue that is rarely discussed, but a heavily debated topic when brought up. When I was younger, I remember stories my grandpa would tell me about his days in public school in the 1930s. His class would recite the Pledge of Allegiance, then the Lord’s Prayer without a second thought. This was normal to them, and no one saw a problem, even if there were Jewish children, for example, in the class.

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School Prayer started to diminish until it was removed from the U.S. public education system by slowly changing the meaning of the First Amendment through a number of court cases over several decades in the 1960s. Three cases, in particular, were: “The Regent’s School Prayer” (Engel v. Vitale, 1962)”, “School Prayer” (Murray v. Curlett, 1963)”, and “School Prayer & Bible Reading” (Abington Township School District v. Schempp, 1963).

“The Regent’s School Prayer” (Engel v. Vitale, 1962)

New York was not as liberal as it was today, because, at one time, the state adopted a prayer that students had to say before the start of the school day. However, the writers who wrote the school prayer was either non-sectarian or denominational, and it was so vague that it became known as the “to whom it may concern prayer.” It stated, “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country.” Justice Hugo Black wrote the following for the majority, “It is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers… the Regent’s prayer is inconsistent both with the purposes of the Establishment Clause and the Establishment Clause itself.” Voluntary prayer was still permitted, however.

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“School Prayer” (Murray v. Curlett, 1963)

Madalyn Murray O’Hair, a left-wing atheist filed a lawsuit against the school board of Baltimore. However,  the local court judge, J. Gilbert Pendergast, dismissed the petition stating, “It is abundantly clear that petitioners’ real objective is to drive every concept of religion out of the public school system”, but perhaps his intentions were motivated by some inward stance he had against her. The “School Prayer” case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Surprisingly (because of the time), the National Council of Churches and several Jewish organizations favored Madalyn O’Hair’s case. Not one Christian organization filed a brief in support of school prayer. The Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of abolishing school prayer and Bible reading in the public schools

“School Prayer & Bible Reading” (Abington Township School District v. Schempp, 1963)

This case originated not too far from Happy Valley. Ten verses of scripture were imposed on schools in Pennsylvania, and these ten versus had to be read every day. However, students could have asked to be excused. Even though they could have asked to be excused, why should they have to ask at all, when they just want is to receive the same education as students who do pray?

The Court ruled that these verses were in violation of the Establishment Clause and the First Amendment.

Because of “Separation of Church and State”, the government is not allowed to force anyone to practice a religion or attempt to persuade someone to believe in any kind of religious tenets. I believe if a parent or student would like to practice religion in school, the child should then be enrolled in a private school. The United States is a melting pot, we should respect citizens’ religions, if any, that they practice.

Years later, school prayer is just as big of an issue. Newt Gingrich once mentioned his intentions of wanting to push immediately for the adoption of his proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution “relating to voluntary school prayer.” As it is always not true, there does seem to be a fine line between those support school prayer and those who don’t–and the fine line normally divides conservatives and liberals on this issue. The question, however, that seems to stump those who are in favor of school prayer is, why are conservatives, who say they want to get the government off our backs, trying to interfere with something as personal and private as a religious conviction? The truly traditional American value is the freedom to pursue any religion, or no religion, without government interference or coercion.

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According to the ACLU, The American Civil Liberties Union, “The ACLU believes that any program of religious indoctrination — direct or indirect — in the public schools or by use of public resources is a violation of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state and must be opposed.”

The Framers were not contradicting themselves when they created the First Amendment, which includes freedom of speech.” Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  With these words, the framers of the Constitution established one of the central principles of American government — that religious liberty can flourish only when the state leaves religion alone.

https://www.allabouthistory.org/school-prayer.htm

https://www.aclu.org/other/constitutional-amendment-school-prayer

https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/24/opinion/school-prayer-plitics.html