Why are so many people against the children praying to God in schools? Separation of church and state...?

Question

doesn't mean to exclude God & His protection over our school children, does it?

Is this the reason the devil has snuck into our childrens schools & does them harm. Because some parents don't want God and thinks God will only harm our kids?

Don't you realize that it is the devil that harms our children, not God?

the agitator, The childrens God. Why can't there be a prayer room or a moment of silence in the morning. A moment of silence isn't a corriculum.

BlueOcto,,,

I don't believe anyone should be forced to pray. That doesn't help anyone. A moment of silence would allow those that don't want to pray to meditate on nothingness.

Berget, I believe the constitutional 1st amendment is on the side of freedom to pray. Children have freedom to peacefully gather also. Unpeaceful gatherings would be unconstitutional.

Allowing children to pray, isn't teaching them how to pray.

Children learn how to pray to God from their parents. So it shouldn't be the public school responsibity. Though freedom to pray should be allowed. That is constitutional. Also to allow American Holidays celebrations. Including Christian ones.

Separation of church & state protect us from evil dictators who dictate evil religions. Because to not conform to their faith / religion could mean death or a prison sentence.

I am not suggestion to teach children how to pray, just to give them freedom to believe and give their school day to God. God listens to the little children. It seems that religious freedoms are being taken from them in their schools.

Brianna, Wiccans casting spells is not a peaceful gathering so is unconstitutional. Also it is sending curses so is practing a religion that threatens others freedoms. Praying to God doesn't threaten anyones freedoms so it constitutional.

Buddhist can meditate during a moment of silence before school starts.

Avie, Are you telling me that the Christian religion is the only one that prays to God?

Morge,

The devil is the one who is behind those terrorists who go into the schools or are student terrorists in the school who go in and kill the innocent children. God knows where they are & who they are. We need to be aware of them, & they need to be stopped.

Morge,

The devil is the one who is behind those terrorists who go into the schools or are student terrorists in the school who go in and kill the innocent children. God knows where they are & who they are. We need to be aware of them, & they need to be stopped.

Answer 1

School shootings did not start until school prayer was banned.
Thank the ACLU and atheists everywhere.

Answer 2

I've pointed this out before, and I will point it out again.

Many of the common religions in the US have intolerance of other religions built right into them. Even many 'christian' groups feel that if you are not the same 'type' of christian they are, you are surely hellbound. Now picture these people sitting next to my child in class.

I was raised Asatru (a traditional Scandinavian religion - a form of Odinism) so I raised my son Asatru. I do not answer to the gods of the Middle East, so I do not pray to them. Nor does my child. We do not expect others to pray to the Northern Gods and we certainly don't go out and 'spread the word'. We do, we MUST according to the Nine Noble Virtues and the Six Fold Goal, respect and tolerate other religions, cultures and peoples. However, I strongly suspect some students and their parents, due to the intolerance built into their religions, might be a bit upset by my son praying to our Blessed All Father, Odinn, next to them in class.

Now throw in a few Muslims, some Jews, a Wiccan or two of varying traditions and maybe even a LaVeyan Satanist just for giggles and scatter them around your typical Californian urban high school of 2000+ students. I think it becomes very clear very quickly why keeping 'god' - ANY god - out of school is probably a good idea.

Also, we don't have a 'devil' in my religion. We don't believe in any entity even remotely like the christian devil. We have Loki, but he's just a mischief maker. So if any harm comes to my child, it is most likely going to be over my dead body. If ANYONE threatens my child in any way, shape or form they are about a fifty cent cab ride away from a slab, period. Or an ER visit if it's only a minor threat.

If you feel there is an evil entity of some sort in your child's school - switch schools. As I once told a friend who lived in a very, very haunted house (or so he claimed), "Dude, you don't need an exorcist. You need a real estate agent."

~Morg~

Answer 3

Maybe because parents are afraid the teachers are going to start talking about the Devil and scaring the heck out of the kids!

I don't think that 'so many' people are against school prayer. It's just that the very vocal minority that DO object have the US Constitution on their side. Take it or leave it - the USA is a country that separates church and state.

Answer 4

We live in a diverse culture. We are a combination of many races, ethnicities and religions. When you are in a diverse culture, all groups need to be free to practice their own beliefs and customs and not be forced to adhere to the majority.

If prayer were mandatory in schools, that puts the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Pagan, Agnostic and Atheist kids in an uncomfortable spot. Why should Christiantiy be the only religion recognized? That would be like having only the white kids in the classrooms and making all the other kids sit outside. It would be like automatically giving blue-eyed children a higher grade on a test because they have blue eyes. It's wrong and it does not work within a diverse culture!

Schools don't go over to churches and start pushing algebra. What gives churches the right to go over to schools and start pushing prayer? Saying that violence is up because there's no prayer in school makes as much sense as saying that math skills are low because preachers don't include algebraic equations in their sermons.

Answer 5

Besides separation of church and state:

Not ALL children that go to public school are Christian or even believe in a God at all. Do you realize how uncomfortable it can be to be the only kid that doesn't act like everyone else?

And the typical response to the above would be that the US is a Christian nation and those who aren't should just suck it up...so we'll just let all the non-Christians leave public school and not get an education.

IF YOU WANT TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY RULED BY RELIGION MOVE TO IRAN - see how much fun they're having?

Answer 6

It's just more religious elitism. We are so against others we don't want our children potentially praying the prayers of others. Only OUR prayers.

Personally, I buy clothing from an Islamic clothing site. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this company is founded in faith and that my clothing is made by a person who has taken regular breaks to go and pray.

If I had kids, and they were in school, I'd rather they pray with their Muslim friends than not pray at all with their Atheist friends.

But I would like them to have all kinds of friends.

Most Christians will disagree with me. Either all Christian or nothing.

Answer 7

If you want to pray in a public school then maybe the Buddhists should be able to meditate or the Wiccans should be able to cast spells, religion belongs at home or in a private school setting. Not everyone is christian, learn to respect other people of other religions.

Answer 8

I'd just like to say to Whitehorse456 that the Christian religion is NOT the only religion people adhere to. Why should Jewish children or Wiccan children or Muslim children, etc., have to pray to a Christian God? Please explain...you seem to be saying that everyone should be Christian and there shouldn't be any other religions.

Answer 9

If you start asking around, you will find there are really very few people that are against kids praying in school. Anyone who is sane would wonder why that should even be something to consider in a public school. If there is a time for prayer it is now. I am also against a public school for leading a prayer since there are probably several children who either are not in a church or have totally different religions.

But back to the point, it is just like anything else that seems insane to most people. It not that there are a lot of people against prayer in schools, it is just that the number of people against prayer are LOUDER and tell more people of their opinion. It happens with books all the time. Ask around about Harry Potter or Tom Sawyer. Both are great books, but because a few people are more willing to state thier opinion and others have better fights to fight, these are books that are now banned from certain libraries. Now, we have to make the fight for prayer and you might find overwhelming support to allow it in schools for children to use that time to pray as they wish.

Answer 10

Some people, including myself, don't like it when the government or schools try to raise our children. That is up to the parents, and I think religion should be taught by the parents and that is all. The Bible is not a history book, so religion really has no place in school. Pushing beliefs on children, without the parents being there, is too close to brainwashing for me.

Answer 11

I don't care if an individual child wants to pray at school, or if a group of children pray together before eating lunch.

I do care if the school funds religious activities or if anyone is FORCED to pray, such as prayer being read over the PA system.

I also don't believe in any gods, or evil demi-gods, and so I doubt that they are harming any children.