Why do you blame atheists for getting prayer out of schools?

Question

McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203, 212 (1948).
Struck down religious instruction in public schools. The case involved school-sponsored religious instruction in which the sole nonreligious student, Jim McCollum, was placed in detention and persecuted by schoolmates in Champaign, Illinois.

This court case is a prime example of why religion cannot be in schools and was necessary because of the hateful and discriminatory actions of religious people.

Shouldn't you be blaming hateful religious people?

What About "Student-Initiated" Prayer?
This is a ruse proposed by extremist Christian legal groups such as the Rutherford Institute, and the American Center for Law and Justice run by televangelist Pat Robertson. Religious coercion is even worse at the hands of another student, subjecting students to peer pressure, pitting students in the majority against students in the minority, treating them as outsiders with school complicity.

Imposing prayer-by-majority-vote is flagrant and insensitive abuse of school authority. Such schools should be teaching students about the purpose of the Bill of Rights, instead of teaching them to be religious bullies. Some principals or school boards have even made seniors hold open class votes on whether to pray at graduation, leading to hostility and reprisal against those students brave enough to stand up for the First Amendment.

"The notion that a person's constitutional rights may be subject to a majority vote is itself anathema," wrote Judge Albert V. Bryan, Jr. in a 1993 ruling in Virginia, one of several similar district court rulings around the nation banning any prayer, whether student- or clergy-led.

We cannot put liberties protected by our Bill of Rights up to a vote of school children! Should kindergartners be forced to vote about whether to pray before their milk and cookies? Under such reasoning, what would make it wrong for students to vote to segregate schools or otherwise violate the civil liberties of minorities?

Mirage

I do believe you are refering to the words "one nation under god" that were unconstitutionaly added to the pledge of alegiance in1957. This same unconstituional act that was passed by congress in 1955 also added "in god we trust" to our currency.

These are both examples of unconstitutional theocratic laws.

Pstod

It was the public High School in Champlain IL

Don J

You are ignoring the same number of people slaughtered by the christians durring the crusades, the inquisition, Hitlers quest for a christian continant, Serbian christians slaughtering muslims.

Answer 1

Religion should not be a part of school------not at all!! There are too many beliefs and ideas, and it would end up being Christianity that would be pushed, and this is unfair.

The only time I feel religion should be mentioned is in the context of learning history, and when a religion-any religion-has an important role in that time of history-it can be mentioned, with a very short lesson on what it-any religion-pertains to.

Answer 2

The 1965 court case that made school-led prayer illegal (not 1948's case about religious instruction, a different issue) was completely against every precedent. It didn't even cite a precedent in the decision. This was a clear case of the court making law, rather than interpreting it, as they are supposed to do.

The first amendment is supposed to guarantee the free expression of religion; a few atheist activists have prohibited people from exercising their first-amendment rights in many circumstances.

Answer 3

Yup, the same people who would **** a crusade if school prayer required a fire sacrifice to Agni, tying a ribbon on an oak tree for Brighid and a quick Ego ritual to the Kao. I think it makes for an interesting alternative; if you want school prayer, make alternative systems available to all students.

Answer 4

Prayer was NEVER taken out of schools. I have given and taken exams, test and quizzes, I know that someone is praying.

Now congregational prayer has been taken out and rightfully so. I am no more in favor of people mouthing the words of a prayer thoughtlessly at the request

Answer 5

Because most of the time, that's who is offended when God is mentioned. Have you ever known a Christian who was offended when they heard God's name, or a Jew, or a Muslim who was offended at hearing the name Allah?

You're saying a Christian mother wouldn't be angry if her child went to school and stood up and said "One nation under Vishnu" every morning? Somehow I highly doubt that.

Answer 6

Prayer at college grow to be with regard to the way issues have been finished in a undeniable "WASP" way. in simple terms like alot issues, a transformation to permit others to think of diverse grow to be the arriving of age. Forcing somebody to do something they do no longer do at house is meddling, plus public college device is the state. faith has no place in public state concerns. if so, you will ought to invite all the different practices alongside with WICCA, Voo-Doo, etc. Are you being honest?

Answer 7

Why can't these religious nuts have their children pray at home before going to school? The whole concept that "they must pray at school" proves without a doubt that they are using "prayer time" to push their religion onto others. It is so blatantly obvious.

Answer 8

was the school public or private? we can simple look at other facts and what has happened when prayer was removed from school, teen pregnancy has increased, drug use, violent crimes, divorce, all the things that show the downfall of western society can be tied back to when prayer was removed from schools. oh and one more thing because i am sure that someone will bring this up...the seperation of church and state...it is in the constitution to protect religion from the state, not the state from the religion...just thought that i would throw that in there...

Answer 9

Funny religious people are the first to judge The first to put their nose where it doesn't belong
The first to tell you how you should believe how you should pray
The first to discriminate
The last to take blame
But they are God fearing people I guess only when its convenient

Answer 10

I'd like to see prayer and religious beliefs actively discouraged in schools. They are places of learning after all.