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Importance Of Prayer At School
Prayer in public schools
Outline on prayer in schools
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Prayer in School Abstract The paper tries to argue that prayer in school should be a regular practice as it helps in the proper development of the students. The prayers teach values and morality among the children. Moreover, prayers should not be seen as markers of religion only. The universality of the prayers has to be understood. The counterarguments to the opinion in favor of prayer in school are discussed. The error of the opinion is also pointed out. Thus, it is concluded that prayers in school are beneficial for students.
Prayer in School There is a debate about allowing prayers to be a part of the daily practice in schools in the country. There are some people who say
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Their wish should be respected by the society. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling has taken the decision of replacing the phrase "freedom of religion" that was guaranteed by the Constitution with the phrase "freedom for religion." But, it should be remembered that the non-religious community in the nation state of America is a minority. The number of people who follow religion is far more than the non-religious people. So, banning prayer in school would mean that religious students are forced to keep away from praying in school. It would be a problem for their right to follow and practice their religious beliefs. So, it can be said that the Supreme Court has incorrectly interpreted the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. A voluntary and simple school prayer does not mean that the government wants to establish a religion all over. The government recognition religious days of the tear or National Days of Prayer work more in the establishment of a specific religion in the country. Thus, it would be wrong to say that the prayer in schools is a way of establishing a religion. That would be a very wrong perspective of the matter. On the other hand, if there is a practice of prayer in schools, it would bring many benefits. The public school system is getting bad with time. There is increase in use of drugs, school shootings, alcoholism, HIV transmission, and teenage …show more content…
Making prayers an important part of schools can be very helpful. This practice would provide a sense of holiness and peace in the students' minds. The prayers have the power to create a holy ambiance. That would help in the process of learning many values like discipline, humility, and respect among the children. Thus, the school children would realize the importance of the ethics in life. The prayers encourage the children to believe in the values in their lives. Thus, it helps in the process of personality development. Then, the students grow up to be better individuals. If the prayers are banned in the schools, that would mean that all of this would not be possible. Apart from this, a ban would only support the non-religious people. Thus, the students would not have their freedom of religion. So, it would be best to make the students take part in prayers. That would spread the message of propriety of life and piety. As such, school prayer would help the students to walk on the right path. They would learn the values of life and can be better people. The religious students would be able to observe the beliefs during the time of the school if prayers are allowed. Also, the prayers would have an effect on the mind of the students irrespective of the religious preaching. Without distinguishing different religions, one important thing has to be reckoned. The aim of religion is to spread the word of peace and
The issue of prayer in school cannot be dealt with in a manner that will please everyone. The main thing that needs to be stressed is that tolerance of other people and their beliefs is the only true way to ensure that everyone has freedom and equality in America. Until that day comes there will always be groups of people who cause disruption in our schools and take away from what the focus really should be: quality education and an understanding of others as well.
In 1962 the Supreme Court decided that public schools did not have the power to authorize school prayer. This decision made public school in the U.S. more atheistic than many European nations. For example, crosses still hang on the classroom walls in Poland, and the Ten Commandments are displayed in Hungary. There are prayers held at the beginning of legislative and judicial sessions and every President has mentioned a divine power in his inaugural speech. In keeping with a spirit of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment, there is no reason why students should not be allowed to have a moment of silence during the school day when they can pray or do as they choose.
The intercom comes on in a classroom first thing in morning and says “now kids, it is time for our prayer”. Every kid in the class joins hands and starts to respectfully pray. Once the prayer is finished, they all go back to work and are more unified together, right? That is usually not the case. More likely than not, only several kids in the class joins the prayer. Most kids then laugh at the others praying, breaking the bonds between the two. With religion being brought up in school, there are more possibilities for debate between children ending in violence. Three fourths of kids at my high school will not even recite the pledge of allegiance just because it says god in it. Public schools should not have any impact on religion. Christian Groups are sneaking religion into high schools.
There are many different philosophies regarding prayer in public school. It seems to be a difficult issue to decide upon. The opinions are wide-ranging and convoluted. This paper will attempt to highlight the many ideas and opinions as to whether prayers in public school should be allowed and to what extent. It will further show how our founders' idea of a separate church and state has been taken out of context and why prayer in school should be allowed, but not required.
Praying in school was first addressed in the Supreme Court in 1962 in the Engle v. Vitale case. The Establishment Clause inserted and stated Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. The court ruled the Union Free School District in Hyde Park, NY had violated the First Amendment by directing the principals to cause the following prayer to be said aloud by each class in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of each school day: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country” (Longley, "Public"). I agree with the court ruling because not all students in a classroom share the same beliefs. To cause everyone to say this prayer surely violates their rights.
until the middle of the 20th century, organized prayer and Bible reading were practiced by public schools across the country. In 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school prayer to be unconstitutional in the landmark case, Engel v. Vitale. Just two years later, in another landmark case, the court would decide that school sanctioned Bible readings and other similar religious activities should not be allowed as well (http://www.oyez.org/cases). Should these rulings continue to stand in this country? Yes. The government of the United States of America should continue to disallow prayer in the public school system. Praying public schools ...
On the other hand, Secular Humanists, have several arguments focusing on why prayer in schools is a bad idea. They state that public schools exist to educate, not to proselytize. Children in public schools are a captive audience. Making prayer an official part of the school day is coercive and invasive. What 5,8 or 10-year-old could view prayers recited as part of class routine as "voluntary,"? Religion is private, and schools are public, so the only appropriate situation is that these two do not mix.
The first and fourteenth amendments to the constitution establish the rules that apply to school prayer. The first amendment says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The 14th Amendment of the Constitution has several clauses; the clause that pertains to school prayer is the Equal Protection Clause requiring each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within that state. What this means is, each student in the school is protected from being forced to pray in school in any certain way.
Students are guaranteed the right to pray, as long as it is not disruptive, and it is not promoted during classroom hours. Not only are these permitted, they are actually protected forms of speech under the U.
Religion is one of the most controversial issues in society today. The concern of allowing prayer in schools is an on-going debate and has resulted in numerous lawsuits. Religious school clubs, after school activities, curriculums, and moments of silence during school are just a few of the court cases that judges have administered. People in favor of prayer in schools believe that their children can only learn certain values through religious practice. On the other hand, an individual against religious practice in schools views this issue as an infringement on his or her children’s rights as Americans.
Many believe that public schools are for educating, not proselytizing. Mixing religion and school is not appropriate since schools are public and religion is private. Public schools are open to everyone, whether Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist or Christian. (Gaylor) People with all types of religions pay taxes that support the school; therefore it is not appropriate to enforce a specific religion on all students. Your personal religion is your decision; the government and schools cannot interfere with it. It is unconstitutional for the government to decide your religion for you. Government-mandated prayer would violate freedom of religion because it enforces a certain religion on all students. Allowing students...
Religion in school can be defined as the practice of any personal religious belief or act in a place of education. To say that religion is a big topic of interest to a lot of people in the United States today is a bit of an understatement. The debate over the separation of church and state has been going on without end for years. With many different perspectives on the matter and even more opinions on how it should be handled. Since the beginning many people have challenged the role that religion has played in education. Should schools teach religion? If so, can they do it evenhandedly? Will they misinterpret the religion wrong? How many people would be offended? Would we be better off without it so that it doesn’t cause controversy? The problem is can we truly answer any of these arguments without the opposite side disagreeing? Many of these questions are rooted from the same controversy that is happening in schools today. Aside from the separation of church and states comes one of the vastly debatable topics of education allowing religion which is prayer in school. While a few believe that prayer in school is constructive to the development of a child and their faith, others may conclude that it could completely denounce the faith of a child. Because this is an ongoing controversy further research on whether religion should or should not be allowed in public education is usually boils down to two major points the First Amendment and is religion good for our children? Could we potentially have a compromise or could the two opposing sides meet somewhere in the middle?
Annie Laurie Gaylor quoted Thomas Jefferson in her article The Case Against School Prayer, “No citizen shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever…” and that to “compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of [religious] opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical” (Gaylor, 1995, p. 7). No man should have to be subject to anything that he does not believe in. Prayer should not be allowed in the public school system because of the idea of separation of church and state and the First Amendment.
...meone of their rights and taking them away. It is discrimination against whichever religion is not taught. While prayer and religion may help aid in development, not every child or every person will develop the same. Different backgrounds, including religion and culture, produce different results. Religion should not be allowed in public schools, it would cause more harm than it will do good.
Before starting the concept mad and breaking down the issue, I knew that school prayer was a social issue but never knew why. From my point of view, I would say that school prayer should be allowed, except limiting what they can do. For example, a class has the moment of silence, but the other students who have different beliefs can have their own time where they do their prayers and practices.