Should school prayer be allowed in public schools?.
Since this country's establishment, there have been several debates over the issue of religious prayer in school. Religious sects and other groups feel that prayer should be mandatory in public schools; however, many people believe it to be our right to have church and state remain separate. If we allow prayer in school, then it will indoctrinate our unsuspecting children's minds and devastate the United States Constitution. Religious prayer must not be allowed into public schools. The destruction of our constitution through prayer in schools raises a group of children with no independence of their own thoughts and beliefs. The research that is presented in this paper will prove indefinitely why the use of prayer in public schools is illegal.
Government's Position.
Public schools are for all children, whether Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Baptist, Quaker, or Atheist. Schools are supported by all taxpayers and should be free of school prayer and religious observances. It is the duty of the parents and churches to instill religious beliefs. It should not be the governments" job to help instill these religious beliefs. School prayer is a time where all children are required to pray. Justice Black sees the First Amendment as, "a guarantee that neither the power nor the prestige of the Federal Government would be used to control, support or influence the kinds of prayer American people can say" (Bach 128). When government attempts to promote, support, establish, or use religion in any way, both church and state suffer (Bach 128). .
Newt Gingrich's belief on voluntary school prayer is thus, nothing in this constitution shall be construed to prohibit individual or group prayer in public schools or other public institutions. No person shall be required by the United States or by any State to participate in prayer. Neither the United States nor any State shall compose the words of any prayer to be said in public schools (ACLU 1).
