Hey guys. I'm doing a persuasive speech on, "Why we should have prayer in school." I need pros and cons please

Question

Anything will help... I need to work a lot on an introduction that is catchy and realistic and not one-sided.... Thank you!! You can even e-mail me if you would like...
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Thank you again!!

Answer 1

I can give you one major con that should make any reasonable person at least stop and think twice about it.

We have a right in this country to freedom of religion and the right that the state or government not be biased towards any one religion. So, what this means is that if you allow prayer in schools, assuming this is by christian standards, then you can not disallow others... ie, budhhist chanting sessions or islamic kneeling for prayer at certain times of the day. Those are only two examples.

So you see, you open a pandoras box; a very large one.

Some might argue 'well christianity is our majority religion and what our country was founded on; therefore, it should set the standard for what type of prayer.' If you do that then you end up being no better than dictatoral countries that demand one religion or rather the practice of one religion.

Answer 2

1) You need to do some research. Try CQ Researcher -you'll find both sides of the issue. You might also try this for other controversial issues. http://www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc.html
2) An introduction can be anything - a quote, a catchy idea or phrase, or even a joke, as long as it's appropriate.
3) When you're making sure that your argument isn't one-sided, you might think about someone who would disagree with you. What would he/she say? What are the reasons why he/she might disagree with you?

The best way to do well at public speaking is to practice, then practice again, practice in front of a mirror, tape record yourself giving the speech, give the speech to your dog/cat/guinea pig, give the speech to a friend or family member, and practice some more.

Answer 3

You could discuss the difference between personal prayer and official prayer. Personal prayer is just that: Anybody can say a prayer to God any time they like, and no government institution can stop them. This kind of personal relationship with God really was the whole idea behind the Protestant Reformation, and our Constitutional rights to freedom of religion fit it perfectly.

Official prayer is more like the Catholic model: A priest will pray for you, or lead you in prayer. The movement to include official prayer in public schools is an attempt to force the Catholic model on a population that is mostly Protestant. The only Protestant religious leaders who are in favor of official prayer in schools are ones with a political agenda to push. All the others see it as a reversion back to the offcial state-approved church system that was common in Europe for centuries of Catholic Church dominance. That's why it will never go anywhere!

Answer 4

I'm assuming that you mean state mandated prayer. A con would be that essentially all states which recognize a single religion eventually become intolerant of all others in one way or another. Just look what happened to the Jews in the Middle Ages under the reigns of Edward I in England and Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain, countries where there was no separation of the church and the state.

Answer 5

"Let us bow our heads thank the lord and kneel on our prayer rugs facing east, as we rub the buddha stomach and pull our jewish prayer shawls from our shaved heads and chant Hare Krishna and place our Wicca prayer beads onto The Book of Mormon. Another Testament of Jesus Christ which is contains a copy of the Watchtower. That you received from the Athiest knocking on your door early saturday morning.

I don't intend any harm or hatred towards any of the religion mentioned here. but that is the point. I don't know what all religions are about, so who is gonna teach me to pray??? and how or what or when to pray????
I think that was best left up to my parents, family, and church.

With the proper research on these and other religions, you will be able to incorporate them into a introduction, that will show how ridiculous it would be to leave the school up to religion 101.

Answer 6

The attempts to put prayer into schools run directly counter to biblical teachings. Jesus said prayer should be a private affair devoid of public display: "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room (or closet.) and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret..." (Matthew 6:5-6 RSV). Biblicists violate this on a regular basis and have no intention of correcting their behavior. They demand that evolution be taken out of the curriculum. They demand parochial school receive voucher programs so that they may collect public funding. Christians continuously pray in public, IE: churches, street corners, schools, courts, etc. yet all the while they never stop to think this is in direct violation to the god they pray to.

"I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law shall be made respecting the establishment or free exercise of religion, but from that also which reserves to the states the powers not delegated to the United States. Certainly, no power to prescribe any religious exercise or to assume authority in religious discipline has been delegated to the General Government. It must then rest with the states, as far as it can be in any human authority." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Miller, 1808. ME 11:428

Answer 7

I think an excellent place to look for arguments on this topic is from the source which already decided how to resolve the dispute: the Supreme Court. They rendered a decision on this topic back in 1962 in a case called "Engel v. Vitale." They were not unanimous, there was one dissenting Justice, and there was even one interesting little disagreement among those who were on the majority side. If you can look up case law, then look at "Engel v. Vitale," (1962).

Answer 8

Well the fatc that a school is a place to teach you actual facts and not a believe. Teachers are not there to mold your believes but to teach you that fact that there are believes out there other than yours. Putting prayers in schools will just make you close minded and it will offend the others that are not the same religion. I am catholic and I believe in the power of prayer , just not in school. Leave it for church. School isn't a place of preaching but a place of learning and expanding our minds. That causes relgious chaos between students and faculties.

Answer 9

The prayers could be generic. No law says you have to base those preyers on a specific religion or concept of God.

Answer 10

Students should be given a 10 - 20 minute silent period, to pray, meditate, or study, whatever,,, sure have prayer,, just make it quite time,,,