Since school kids can pray as much and as often as they like, why is there an argument over school prayer?

Answer 1

The argument is over school prayer as a requirement.

Answer 2

Religions are held together by rites and rituals. Prayer is a daily ritual. Most prayer is repeatitive and, the idea is, the more a child repeats a prayer and the more sources give the child the same information, the more that kid will grow up the the idea stuck in his or her head. I went to an Anglican school with chapel every morning and those phrases and hymns pop up in my head at the strangest times. In fact, I couldn't shake them and ended up taking a lot of courses about religion when I went to University.

On the other hand, I've got to say that it was not just the prayers but the music that caught me and it's the music that comes up in my head when I least expect it (especially if I've had a few pints.) Even if prayer in schools were not an effective method of recruitment, I think religious folks would still fight for them. They have to appear 'strong' or they're afraid that they'll loose out. They also want to support 'the good old days' when students prayer in school because
a. that was a time in which they had a lot more power.
b. they can 'sell' the idea to people of a time before technology and corruption when children were innocent and did as they were told on the deepest level... it makes them look like the solution to gangs and drugs and all that stuff.

There's a lot of talk about different religions battling it out for the human soul, but I think, in North America, both Jews and Christian believers have a bigger threat in apathy and agnosticism than they do in each other.

It's also part of both doctorines that prayer be said at certain times and that children be taught by people outside their families (by the community at large) as well as at home.

The trouble is, of course, that those communities are shared on a wider scale than the ones in which the religions were concieved. No one wants their child saying prayers that go against their own beliefs.

Strange world, eh?
N

Answer 3

The argument is not over prayer in schools, but over ORGANIZED prayer in schools. For the school system to organize a prayer, they would be favoring one religion over another, because there is no prayer that can satisfy all religions. Even if there was one that all religions could agree on, the atheists would have a say, as well. Church and state are separated, and should not be brought together.

Answer 4

Because students cannot "Pray anywhere they want". As a matter of fact a student must be in an appropriate place/time to pray, it cannot interfere.

Public schools are out of control, they have ceased to be places of learning and are instead indoctrination centers.

Public schools are now deemed to be beyond the control of the local communities. A parent has no right to object to any material that is presented to a student. Any material not just religious, If a teacher wants to ask your son or daughter about sexual experiences at the age of 7 or 8, guess what they can [and do].

Answer 5

Because people don't know the first amendment. They keep spouting off separation of church and state, which is not mentioned in the 1st Amend. I don't want to force anyone to do anything and I don't want to loose my rights either. Example: My child was recently told not to talk about God b/c it might offend someone. My first grader talking about his beliefs is not establishing a religion. He's not forcing anyone else to believe what he does, he's not evangelizing, he's just sharing what's in his life. However, an authority figure telling him not to because it's not PC is unconstitutional to me. That goes for kids who want to talk about Buddah or Allah, etc. And the Atheist kids are welcome to roll their eyes as well. That's freedom.
A teacher can not teach religion or guide a child to believe on thing or another. However, they can not hinder a child's right to pray or talk about their religion, within reason of course (a child can't use religion as an excuse to be dissruptive). If we could stick to the constitution as it's written we wouldn't have a problem.
But, b/c people still aren't clear on our rights and want to push their own agendas (on both sides), we still have this hoopla about it.

Answer 6

Part of the excitement over school prayer results from people allowing themselvs to be worked up by political demagogues.

Another real component, tho, is that many people now live in communities that are not 100% one religion. This is a huge change. No one in the town cared about prayers at a football game when they all went to the same few churches and organized their lives to include these public prayers.

It's culture shock. When a town is no longer 100% one religion, the other folks in the town say - excuse me, i don't wish to say your prayers at this high school football game and all cultural hell breaks loose.

Good political and moral leaders could help. Good political leaders would uphold our heritage of religious liberty and good moral leaders might remind culture-shocked christians that jesus called people who pray in public hypocrites.

Answer 7

As long as it is not compusory, students can pray as much as they want. The legal argument is over whether FORCING kids to pray is constitutional, and that argument has been settled by the Supreme Court - it isn't. However, I think when it comes to test time there might be a whole-lotta-prayin' going on! ;)

Answer 8

Not all the kids will pray together, and many are atheist, or of other religous affiliations. I don't really care, as long as I can pray in school to myself, I won't keep asking for more. As soon as they don't care if you pray to yourself, someone wants to pray in a group, then they'll want the whole school to pray. If people want the teachers to not teach science, go to a damn private school or lutheran. Public schools are there to teach us for education and math, writing, and history. Not the bible.

Answer 9

I think they want everyone to have to pray the same prayers to the Christian God. While I'm Christian, I have a real problem with that because I don't like to force my religion on anybody.

Answer 10

Excuse me!! Many kids are not allowed to pray at school and if they do it has to take place out of school away from everyone else. I got in trouble for taking a Bible to school once because we were told that we would have a private reading time and everyone needed to bring in a book to read on their own... so I brought a new Bible I received as a gift because it was after all, my personal reading time, and I was told never to bring it again.