Did September 11th allow "God" back into schools? Before that date the question of prayer in school had but one answer: no. Jodie Morse stated in "Letting God Back In" "seeking to reassure students by any means necessary, schools across the country are turning more openly to God" (Morse 1). It has been thought that in our day and time, society needs to have a godly figure to look to for hope when the world around them is being destroyed. Some argue that allowing God back into public schools would allow children to have this hope. They believe that the hope would allow us to live in a more unified nation and society causing the violence to decrease. William J. Murray stated, "If we abandon our religious heritage what will be the bond that holds our nation together? The common thread that binds us as a people is the belief that we are indeed one nation under God. Belief in God is the safety net of our democracy, without which we will surely perish" (Murray 202). Murray's belief that without God we will perish is one that many in today's society state as the main reason why prayer should be in school. .
People argue that the democratic society that we live in today supports a child's right to pray in school. They believe the Constitution gives students the right to free speech in the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. They believe that prayer is a student's constitutional right as an American citizen. Justice William J. Brennan stated that "All ideas having even the slightest redeeming social importance-unorthodox ideas, controversial ideas, even ideas hateful to the prevailing climate of opinion-have the full protection of the [First Amendment]" (Whitehead 89). Supporters argue that to take these rights away from students constitutes discrimination against religious exercise. They believe that when a child enters a school the child does not loose his/her constitutional rights.
