Would you want prayer in schools if the practice was of a different religion?

Question

Many Christians advocate for prayer in schools, understandably. My question is: Would you want prayer in schools if, say, the prayer practices incorporated were those if Islam, Hinduism, or LDS? Would it be okay if the practice at your child's school was for the children to face Mecca 5 times a day and pray? How do you choose the correct prayer to teach in schools? Although most Americans are Christian, is it fair for the Muslim children to be subjected to Christian prayer practices? And if you do incorporate prayer in schools, how do you make it equal? I hope that you are not so ethnocentric as the think that only Christianity should be incorporated. Please explain. Thanks.

Answer 1

This is precisely why prayer is not and should not be allowed in public schools. There is no way to make it equal without offending someone, either a child, parent, teacher, etc. (at least until all religions are accepted and there is no persecution) We cannot know a child's religion, and to draw attention to it could incite persecution from other students and even teachers. If a student wishes to pray in school, that is his/her choice, but the school cannot and should not force children to pray.

Answer 2

OTHER than in parochial schools (Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, etc) I don't think prayer is taught. I think it's part of actual teaching in such as the above schools only. I think prayer time should be offered in public schools too but at times that don't interfere with the teaching of subjects. Before school starts, when it ends, at recess or lunch time should not be a problem. Let whatever faith a person is, be it Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, etc, .be permitted. To force or permit only Cristian prayer would not be fair. As long as no harm is done, no school or social laws are broken, no restrictions as to what faith a person is should come about. Yes. I feel prayer should be approved and honored in schools. But the rules governing prayer should be fair too.

Answer 3

Well this is one issue I part with the Christians on, and I think your question is better directed to the "religious right" rather than simply Christians. I don't think there should be prayer in the classroom in the public schools (though colleges, private or public, and all levels of private school should be free to do so).......... But for public schools it should be kept secular. But I would defend a person of a different religion to pray privately, but support no movement to have a universal public prayer, no matter how general or vague it is.

Answer 4

You may be too young to remember what it was like when "Prayer was allowed in School".

When prayer was allowed in school, all religions were represented, the students took turns giving the morning prayer, which asked God or Allah or whoever to help the students to learn and respect each other in school. Atheist children were not forced to give a prayer but could simply present a nice poem that reflected harmony or whatever.

(In our public school, when it was your day to give the prayer, you went to the office and used the PA system to give a short prayer or poem, it usually lasted about 2 minutes. But, it reflected your individual choice of how you wanted to contribute an expression of advocating harmony instead of disharmony in the school environment.)

Answer 5

Hi Eastchick,
GREAT QUESTION! I am a disabled educator and a Christian. I believe that prayer should not be encouraged or ever discouraged in schools. I do not believe that the school has the right to FORCE students to pray or take part in it. I do, however believe that if a student chooses to bow his/her head or face a given direction and pray that they should never be discouraged from doing so by other students or school employees at any time. I also believe that students should feel free to bring any religious materials that they need to read & study with them to school to use at any appropriate time. Have a great day.
Thanks,
Eds

Answer 6

I do not necessarily advocate prayer in schools per se. But, I do advocate the right for children to pray (regardless of religion) if they want to do so in a manner that does not involve other students who may not feel the same way. For example, if a group of kids want to stand around the flag pole during lunch break, hold hands and pray, I think that should be their right. No one else has to listen if they don't chose to do so.

Answer 7

No. I don't see the point in praying in school. Are they praying that they do good on a test or something? Prayer is to be done in privacy anyhow. I don't care what the religion is, it should be kept out of school. Not all people practice religion and they don't want their kids exposed to something that they don't condone. Totally understandable so, it should remain in the home. Religion is suppose to be a personal choice, I don't see the point in public prayer anyhow.

Answer 8

That's an excellent point. There's no way that all religions could be represented, so the only fair way is for none. Surely everyone who has siblings can remember mom saying if there isn't enough for all no one gets any.
However, I suspect that most christians DO believe that prayer in schools would mean christian prayer, otherwise they wouldn't be for it.

Answer 9

IMO, school is not the place for mandated prayer. If you want your child to pray, then send them to a religious school that mirrors your religious belief. Prayer cannot be equal especially with the diversity between religions. Which is exactly why there should be a separation between church and state.

Answer 10

I'm Jewish, and I think there should be no organized prayer in school during classtimes. If a student wants to pray on his/her own during break or lunch, or a small group of students organizes themselves to pray before school, as long as all religions are allowed to do so, I don't think there's a problem with that.