Prayer in American Public Schools

Jorge Yeshayahu Gonzáles-Lara

 PRAYER IN AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By: Jorge Yeshayahu Gonzáles-Lara

Fahrenheit 151 was written in 1952 and describes a society where freedom is an illusion and a small
group imposes their views to the whole society. Public school appears to be the most important and
effective instrument of political socialization in Fahrenheit 151. Today this novel links with the
controversy of prayer and education in public school.

The controversy over officially sponsored prayer in public schools did not begin in 1962, for the reason
that the Supreme Court first ruled that such observances violate the Establishment Clause. It began
more than 100 years earlier, in the 1830s, when waves of Italian and Irish Catholic immigrants came to
this country and objected to compulsory readings of the Protestant King James Bible [1] and the
recitation of Protestant prayers in most public schools. [2]

Today the concern continues over religion and prayer in public schools. There is fear among many that,
in seeking to avoid public entanglement with private religion, our schools fail to instill in students the
kinds of educational and moral values shared by Americans of all faiths [3]. The Christian coalition
believes that the government should permit prayer in public schools in order to restore family values
from the moral collapse that declares America is a Christian nation.@ The American Civil Liberties
union believes that religious faith flourishes in America precisely because our founding fathers were
determined to protect religion from government and the complete separation of church and state
required by the First Amendment in the Constitution.

The Controversial Views

These controversial views divide the American society and censorship to minority groups. Fahrenheit
151 reflects the censorship that American society suffers today from groups such as the Christian
coalition, who tried to impose their values to the society.

The Christian coalition thinks that America is suffering from moral collapse because the government
has been prohibited from endorsing religion by the courts. They argued that if public school teachers
led students in officially approved daily prayer that might help curb teen pregnancy or stop drug abuse.
Recently, the Christian coalition took over local school boards in order to censor material they do not
like from textbooks and libraries, they should shut down sex education classes, which required the
teaching of creationism and generally ran the public schools from a narrow fundamentalist Christian
point of view. The fundamentalist and conservative view reflects an authoritarian tradition in education
that sought to imbue youngsters with respect for their elders as a moral value.[4]

The argument is that because schools are special institutions designed to promote learning and not
bickering, even the issue of freedom of expression is illusory. The final argument that conservatives use
to underscore the special status of schools is that censorship is necessary to screen for libel and
obscenity and material that would offend the community. The Christian coalition has been trying to
impose their religious beliefs and practices on others through government sponsorship.

History defending religious freedom

For more the 75 years, the American Civil Liberties Union has defended religious freedom and
challenged attempts by sectarians to impose their religious beliefs. The American Civil Liberties Union
believes that the answer lies in a time tested formula: the complete separation of church and state
required by the First Amendment in the Constitution.[5] Religious speech, like other speech, is
protected by the First Amendment. Public School students have the right to read the Bible, recite the
rosary, pray before meals and examinations and discuss their religious views with their fellow students,
as long as they do so outside of the education process.

The issue of students-initiated prayer

Has arisen in the context of graduation ceremonies. Until 1992, it was common in some parts of the
country for a member of the clergy to offer a prayer during graduation exercises. But that year, the
Supreme Court ruled in Lee v. Weisman that including prayer in a school sponsored and supervised
graduation ceremony violated the Establishment Clause.[6] American Civil Liberties Union have
concerned that a crisis of values exists in our society is widespread in the face of rampant violent crime,
troubled and disintegrating families, and many young people=s seeming hopelessness and lack of
direction.

Final Thoughts

Many Americans look to religion as the primary source of values and urge a stronger role for religion in
public life. Prayer and perhaps other religious observances, they argue would be an antidote to today
social problems. The American Civil Liberties Union finally concluded that religion should be practiced
at home, the church, the synagogue, the temple and the mosque and not at official events.

Public school appears to be the most important and effective instrument of political socialization in the
United States. The Christian coalition and the Civil Liberties Union have been presenting controversial
views to approach family values. The Christian coalition believes that prayer in school should be
restored and family values; the Civil Liberties Union believes that prayer should be practiced private.

The United States is the most religiously diverse nation in the world. More than 1,500 different
religious bodies and sects, including 75 varieties of Baptists alone, coexist and flourish in our nation.
We have 3,000 churches, mosques and synagogues[7]. The debate over education and prayer should be
ongoing and constructive.

It is, after all, a debate about the future, about the fate of our most precious resource: our children. I
believe that public schools do and should impart moral values to our children, including the civic
virtues of honest, good citizenship, sportsmanship, ethics and respect for the rights and freedoms of
others.

Bibliography
 1. American Civil Liberties Union. Church and State. Briefing Paper. New York: Civil Liberties Union. 1995.
2.

Reichmann, Henry. Censorship and Selection. Issues and Answers for Schools. Illinois: American Library Association.
1990.
3.

Hunter, James. Articles of Faith, Articles of Peace. Washington: The Brookings Institution. 1984.
4.

Kristof, Nicholas. Freedom of the High School Press. New York: University Press of America. 1983.[1] A bitter conflict
erupted, including riots, the expulsion of Catholic children from public schools, the burning of convents and even
some deaths.[2] American Civil Liberties Union, Church and States, New York: Briefing Paper, Number#3, 1995.[3]
Reichman, Censorship and Selection, Chicago: American Library Association, 1990, pp. 1.[4] Kristof Nichals,
Freedom of the High School Press, New York: University press of America, pp. 38.[5] American Civil Liberties Union,
Church and States, Number #3, 1995.[6] American Civil Liberties Union.[7] According to the Universal Almanac and
other resources Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Moslem and atheist parents objected to Christian practices in the public
schools. According to recent surveys, more than 90 percent of Americans profess a belief in God.

Publicado por La Diáspora Peruana en Tuesday, July 01, 2008