should prayer be in school?

Question

I look at it this way. An atheist requested prayer be taken out of school so that their children wouldn't feel forced to pray...but isn't that the atheist way? To believe in nothing? So essentially they imposed their beliefs on all other children. There is also a school in Washington (if i remember correctly) that had muslim parents request their prayer needs be suited and got that wish.

What if children want to pray? What if adults want their children to pray? Are we teaching intolerance by suppressing one group while granting another group have rights?

Answer 1

It should be allowed
But it should not be forced on anyone
And If allowed, it should stand for all beliefs to pray the way they choose
It has nothing to do with Church and State(most get this meaning mixed up very badly)
Church and State means that the Government will tell you when, who, what, time, how...etc. to pray and will control all aspects of the church

Answer 2

This country breeds intolerance. Look at the way that many of this country treat people of other faiths (sadly Christians that I claim as brothers and sisters in the faith are guilty of this) I do not believe in prayer in public school. If a school is a private school that is using a church to teach its doctrine, then that is a different matter. People that go into the school know that it is associated with a particular church. They can expect to encounter some type of prayer, chapel, or religious teaching of some sort. Public schools means just that--it is public. To have public prayer will isolate those that do not want to pray to the same God or do not wish to pray at all. Let me give you an example, prayer can mean many thing. For someone that is Pagan, prayer may be to Mother Earth or the Goddess or Athena. If a school said they were allowing public prayer but saying that the Deity they chose was the mother earth, I don't think parents of other faiths would be too happy about it. No one can tell a child not to have silent prayer, and if they have religious obligations, that should not be infringed. They should be allowed to follow their religious faith regardless of the school. But, they shouldn't be allowed to be isolated because of their faith of because of the LACK of it. To say that we can just divide out the atheists, that doesn't even begin to start with the other religious -- Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Satanist, Pagan, Agnostic, Atheist, and a couple others -- these are all the faiths that I knew of in my school when I was in high school. To say the least, it would be hard to accommodate all of them in a fair way.

Answer 3

If children are allowed to pray in school, why aren't they then? Could it be that they are afraid of something and isn't there a hidden message to children that they shouldn't pray or it may be considered offensive??

I think that opens up a gateway to being bullied if you are caught praying or teachers giving you a lecture as so many people who don't believe prayer should be in school don't believe children should pray at all and I did get a glimpse of someone silently praying to themselves who had someone cuss them out for "imposing" their beliefs on them when the person praying wasn't even talking to the other person.

The other person got offended and it seems to me that the other person was being rude to the one praying and not respecting their rights. Why do people who claim offense think they are only entitled to rights? What about the rights of those who want to pray and can't afford private schools?

You know, I'd much rather my child go to a school that offers a time out for children who want to pray which is something positive than watching anymore news specials of children killing each other.

Answer 4

It should be reinstated. Christians have been imposed upon for their convictions and beliefs because of secular humanism! Those of other faiths or no faith should be able to leave or participate in seperate prayers or no prayers! That would be true adherence to the 1st Amendment. Christianty opened the door for all religious Free Expression or the Freedom not to participate! People are being fired and harrassed at work for simply reading a Bible on their own time! Christianity opened the doors of freedom, education, invention, music, science, the arts, forward progression and Democracy!

Atheism, by the way Is a religion. It has a set of beliefs as defined by Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. They worship at the altar of self, science, secular humanism and cultural relativism!

Since 1962, when prayer was taken out of the school system Crime went up in the schools from Grammar school to College and became more dangerous with each passing year. Secular humanism believes in a perfect new world order without a god or a false image of one. Daniel Chapters 11-12

Answer 5

Good point - how about having a time where if you are Atheist, you can sit somewhere and just...be, if you believe in God you can pray to Him, etc.
After all allowances get made in the workplace (friend of mine got a few hours ewvery Friday, he's a minister in his church, he also gets times to go and pray during work)

One should have the right to worship and pray if you are religeous. Split people up, atheists go outside, play, whatever, and let those who wish to pray pray, (satanists in room 666, pagans in room 123, whatever) that way NOTHING is forced on ANYONE. What's wrong with being able to spend time at school praying, not necessarily a silent prayer before a test? Who has the right to say your prayer must be kept silent?

Answer 6

Children should be able to pray, absolutely. If Muslims need to do part of their daily five prayers during lunch or break, fine. If Christians want to pray before they have their lunch, fine. But don't let it eat up time in the classroom. Reserve that time for some much needed learning for America's students.

Answer 7

Prayer is already in schools. Your child can pray anytime they wish while at school. The law has done nothing to stop the individual child to pray. What the law does stop is the school being the organizer, endorser, or enforcer of any type of mandatory school sponsored prayer. This is how it should be. Or you would like to have a mandatory school prayer as long as it was a prayer of your choosing?

Answer 8

No, by not having madatory prayer in schools they aren't taking sides. If children want to pray thats fine, they can do it on their own. However, if you make a child pray then that is wrong, that is forcing beliefs on them. The laws being considered and inforced today are not to forbid prayer altogether, they are to forbid mandatory prayer which would force children (who may or may not believe in something) to believe in a certain thing. By having these laws people are asking schools not to force children to pray, but at the same time they are not asking to not allow children to pray on their own. They are simply asking the schools not to take a side.

Besides, which religion are they supposed to pick? Just imagine how a Christian family would feel about their child being made to pray to Allah or a Jewish family's child praying to Jesus.

Answer 9

An atheist does not believe in nothing. An athesit believe that there is no God. I don't think lack of prayer technically qualifies as believing nothing or believing in no God. If that were true, you would have to pray constantly to believe.

If children want to pray, a school isn't the place to do it. There is a time and place.
Intolerance means that we would have prayer in school and ignore other people's belief. Tolerance means we can allow children to pray to any God they want to, whatever matter they want to but without designated a school as a place to lead a prayer.

Answer 10

as long as there are tests at college there'll be prayer. you won't be able to alter that. that is not perfect for a instructor to steer pupils in prayer. For one ingredient, the 1st replace forbids it. for yet another, this united states is so religiously diverse that there is a super hazard the instructor and a few of his pupils could have diverse faiths. Do you carry on with the religion of the instructor (in this occasion "coaching" the pupil that the instructor's faith is right) or of the pupil (forcing the instructor to make diverse prayers in faiths which they could or would possibly not have confidence in)? Do you have a prayer it is so obscure it could prepare to any faith (which might mean it is so obscure it could offend any easily god/goddess listening to it)? Do you waste time sorting out what the religions of each and every of the pupils in the class are and then having prayer for each of them daily? Do you make certain you have ten male Jewish instructors/pupils who've been bar mitzvahed to make up a minyan? suitable to not have any expert prayer in any respect, fairly.