How can we get prayer back in schools??

Question

I think it is messed up that they took prayer out of schools. I don't like the fact that the US gives in to everything. Do you think if we went over to another country and they had a different religion, that we could say OK you can't pray because i'm here. NO. They would tell you, you better go some where else before you get killed. The US is suppose to be about God and prayer. What do you think? And who do i call or write to ,to try to get prayer back in school??

I love the answers that prayer was never taken out of school. I love it. I pray with my kids every morning before school. I love the positive attitudes.

Answer 1

start a new thing.

the law says you cant force anyone to pray. it begins with you and me. We have to stand for we believe in. I encourage you to do what the youth in our city our doing. we are meeting at the flag pole everyday and praying. We are not breaking any laws but people see you everyday and ask questions and slowly but surely your group will grow and people notice. I figure who ever raises their voice in culture is going to be heard. so we need to raise our voices

Answer 2

Wow, hold up here. The US is NOT supposed to be about God and prayer. On the contrary, it's supposed to be about freedom of religion! That means ALL religions. That is the special part of the country. People came here to escape religious persecution, and to this day, I think it is important to remember that while a large portion of the population is Christian, this country is supposed to be religiously neutral.

Now that I've said that, there is no one that says you cannot pray in school. That would be against your right to religious freedom. What a public school cannot do is show preference to one religion over another, which would include a school-wide prayer and whatnot.

And this is coming from a Christian, by the way. Pray all you want. Pray until you turn blue in the face, but you cannot and do not want to see a country begin to identify with one religion over another, or forcing a public establishment have a school-wide prayer. You do not want to live in a country that mandates religion.

Answer 3

Well, first of all.. how could someone take prayer out of a school, honestly? If someone wants to pray, they'll do it whether it can be seen or not. Didn't Jesus say that one shouldn't be praying just so others can see them?

Secondly, the U.S. is not a christian country. It's a secular nation with a guarantee of freedom of religion. The treaty of Tripoli 1798 article 11 makes it very clear that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion".

The First Amendment also specifically states:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,"

Therefore, this country is not supposed to be about God and prayer.

Answer 4

The only thing that was taken out of PUBLIC schools was teacher or administration led prayer. Students are free to have bible clubs, have prayer before school, on breaks, at lunch and after school all they want.

The US is not about God and prayer, never has been.

Since you want prayer back in school, I take it you mean that any and all religious groups will be able to pray? Or are you just referring to one particular religious group? Do you even have an idea how many religions are represented in the US?

Every man "ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience." - George Washington (Letter to the United Baptist Churches in Virginia in May, 1789)

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson (letter to Peter Carr, 10

Answer 5

Individual prayer happens anywhere at any second of the day - no one can stop you from praying silently to yourself.

However, since when was organized prayer ever in a public school to begin with? The US was founded on the belief that CHURCH AND STATE ARE SEPARATE. That means that NO religion is given preference over another and that in public schools funded by tax dollars there is no school prayer. If you would like your children to pray in school, send them to a private school.

In history - most countries were run by religions, that is why people fled to the US to get away from religions running their lives when they didn't beleive in that religion.

Answer 6

Uh, THIS country has another religion. Lots of them. That's kind of the problem with prayer in schools. There isn't enough time to pray in ALL the various belief systems. So they chose to, you know, worry about educating kids. I know, that's crazy in a school, but yeah, they went with teaching instead.

This country is most certainly NOT about God and prayer. Damn the US for "giving in" to diversity!

Answer 7

Crystal,
The prayer that you speak of is still in schools as long as Christians are there. The school may not sponsor a prayer time or say a morning prayer over the PA System. However, the student(s) may say a prayer anytime that they so choose. There is nothing that can be done to stop them from doing so. I was a teacher and this I know! Have a great day.
Eds

Answer 8

Why should prayer be in school? It would be a distraction and very disrespectful to those who don't believe in god. People can pray to themselves any time they want. Or they can pray at home. The idea of stopping class and telling kids to pray is completely absurd.

Answer 9

The U.S. isn't supposed to be about God and prayer. Read the treaty with Tripoli, signed by George Washington. Here is article 11, which might be interesting:

ARTICLE 11.
As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

Please remember that this was signed by some of our founding fathers. It is an indication that we are not "about God and prayer".

School should be about being able to read, write, perform arithmetic operations, understanding history, writing effectively and such. The United States should be able to give safe haven to all of its citizens. Anyone should be able to celebrate their faith here without fear of reprisal for not holding the "official state religion".

No-one prevents a student from praying to their God in school. If you wish to allow one to pray, others should be as well. Christian, Pagan, Muslim, whatever. Not everyone who founded the United States was Christian. You need to remember that. They wouldn't have set up a country which discriminated against hheir beliefs. There were Christians, Unitarians, Deists, Spiritualists and atheists founding this country. It was founded on diversity.

As school is supposed to be about learning, we are finding that we are failing at that. Your post itself demonstrates that. Faulty logic, invalid punctuation, poor structure; these things show that we need to concentrate more on basic skills. Religion belongs in churches, education belongs in schools. If you wish to mix the two, go to a religious school, of which there are many. As for my kids, I'll work on making sure they are educated rather than indoctrinated in schools.

Answer 10

you do know you have it backwards, right?

or is that the joke?

YOU are the ones that the US is better than, for *NOT* giving into.

YOU are the ones in the other countries that would be saying "no, you can't pray in YOUR religion because MY religion is the supported one"

they *cannot* stop private prayer. they simply can't have *school supported* prayer.

the US is *NOT* a christian country. those who tell you it is, are *lying* to you.

if you want "prayer" back in school and NOT be the ones saying "you can't pray here" then YOU have to tolerate all the non-christian prayers along with them tolerating yours.

and you *know* you could not handle that.

Answer 11

First, no one took prayer out of school. You bear false witness. Kids and teachers pray in school all the time, and they are all allowed to. They just don't allow government employees to lead or have children led in prayer. Why would you want a government employee leading your child in prayer? Would you want your Christian child (assuming you are Christian) to be led in a Muslem prayer? Would not many Evangelicals be upset by having their children led in a Catholic prayer?