Prayer In Public Schools Research Paper

The U.S. Supreme Court has been constant in the prohibiting of religion in public schools. The court officially ruled in 1962 that public schools did not have room for religion. It was stated that the values and beliefs of everyone must be respected. This includes the values and beliefs of those who choose to worship as they please. Not only is freedom of religion a constitutional right, it teaches morality and establishes unity; therefore, it should be allowed in public schools. Many schools required students to read from the Bible or recite the Lord’s Prayer daily; however, the Abington v. Schempp case declared it was unconstitutional. By taking away these practices, the Supreme Court violated student’s freedom to practice religion in groups. The Court claimed it merely “removed government-sponsored worship,” but it did much more. A similar case, Engel v. Vitale, eliminated daily prayers led by teachers because it violated the First Amendment. In both cases, students who opposed prayer in school were taken into consideration, but students who did not oppose prayer in school were left out.

Students who did not oppose religion in school were no longer allowed to gather in fellowship and practice their beliefs together. The rulings did not eliminate prayer: they eliminated the

That purpose is to share their faith. Without organized prayer in public schools, students cannot profess their views to classmates of similar interest. One way to allow students to join together and pray is to offer clubs for prayer. Students can set up times and weekly meetings where they can get together and pray for one another. For example, they can start clubs, such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), which is the largest Christian sports organization in the world. The FCA and clubs like it can have a huge impact on establishing unity in public