Need arguements to make in a research paper regarding prayer in public schools!?

Question

I am a junior in college, and have a question regarding an argument/research paper i need to write. My topic is: Should mandatory and/or voluntary prayer be permitted in public schools? My possible thesis statement is: Private voluntary prayer should be allowed in public schools.

WHAT are some points/arguments I could make in the paper about this topic? One I have so far is common misconceptions about school prayer, and I was going to talk about the legal aspect of it too. I need quite a few things to talk about because this paper needs to be at least 8 pages. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Answer 1

Does anyone do their OWN homework anymore?

Answer 2

Mandatory or even voluntary formalized prayer in school is wrong for several reasons.

1. Who's prayer is going to be used?
2. Which "god" is going to be "prayed" too?
3. What about those with no faith?
4. School is for education. Church is for prayer.
5. Tax dollars support public schools. They are used for scholastic education, not religious dogma.
6. Mandatory prayer would force a phony belief upon others who do not believe.
7. Mandatory prayer would cause discrimination against those who protested by not praying.
8. There is nothing to prevent a person from voluntarily praying anywhere, anytime. If theirs is a heavenly god, a thought alone would be heard. No need to make a big show out of it for everyone else.....that is not prayer..that is being a show-off.
9. If one feel impelled to make a public display of praying, then one can wait until school is over for the day and pray across the street.

I could go on, but it's late and I'm going to bed.

Good luck on your paper.

Answer 3

You know, there's an aspect of this I don't see explored much.

When there was prayer and the Pledge in schools, it was a culturally unifying force. Everyone had those things in common.

With those removed, there is a vacuum, an absence of that unifying theme of the students in the class, the school, the state, the nation. Nature abhors a vacuum, so something is going to fill that void, whether we like it or not. While we all love our individuality, we also love having something in common with the world around us.

So, the question is, WHAT has filled the void? What is our unifying cultural element going to be without religion or country?

Paris Hilton? MTV? P diddy? Concern for Global Warming, perhaps. Having Starbucks to start the day.

I'm just not convinced that raising a generation to believe that there is nothing in the world greater than themselves is going to have any long term benefits.

Answer 4

I have pondered this question myself so here is some points in favor. All thoughts are based upon the priciple of reasoning. A person argues in open conversation or in silence with oneself. Prayer is similar one is reasoning by expressing a thought process to come to a decision.A person may say I need help, I need to make the right decision, what should I do, how or what is the best way to figure this out. When we pray we are doing these things making a decision trying to get the best view point. We may turn to a teacher in class, or even recall past events, history, future plans are all reasoned out before making the first motion. Like climbing a hill one looks for guidance where to step, where to grab ahold, the best path to take.
So what if the prayer is silent or voiced to oneself or talking out loud with others or even to one self. Now the arguement against the prayer should be done with out offeneding others, interupting thier space or process of thought. Prayer should be done with respect and not a show to cause a disturbance or draw attention . Prayer should not be mandatory because it does away with a freedom . Mandatory no because then it is not done because of ones belief but by controlling what others should believe.You are asking a public oppinon for a public school that means all types of people and thier beliefs support the school system with tax dollars because of this nobody can or should be made to feel left out or not welcome. Thier beliefs may be harmed or even insulted or feel guiltly by not belonging whether one person or groups. They should be allowed to leave or not perticipate.

Answer 5

This issue was settled years ago. Mandatory prayer is definitely out of the question because it establishes a state religion. Voluntary prayer and other forms of religious expression by individual students is already permitted in public schools, as long as a public school employee isn't leading it and as long as they are not distrupting any school activities (i.e. praying out loud in class while a test is being administered)

Answer 6

So, let me get this straight...your thesis is that current laws and practices should remain the same? Students ARE allowed private, voluntary prayer in public schools.

The only limit to prayer is that it may not be led (or organized) by a school employee during school hours, students must not be coerced to pray, and prayer cannot disrupt the ongoing lessons (i.e., if a child wants to pray silently during class, he may, but doing so aloud is not...allowed; of course, he can't pray as a way of getting out of a test, etc.).

Homonyms...gotta love'em!

Answer 7

In most of the world outside the USA, nations are either anti-religion secular (e.g. in France it is illegal to wear christian cross, jewish hat, muslim face covering, etc. in the schools), or a single religion, where it is illegal to practice religion other than the official one.

In the USA, there is part of the Constitution that calls for separation of Church and State. This has led to some court cases going to the US Supreme Court with respect to religious observance in public institutions.

I suggest you check that thread out.

Since this is a highly controversial topic, you probably need to use multiple sources.
http://www.church-state.org/

Here are some of the US Supreme Court cases regarding when it is Ok to have prayer in public schools, and when not.
http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/cs/blcs_sch_prayer_index.htm

For example, one public school system came up with what they thought was a prayer that was valid for all religions, but the courts struck that down ... the public system may not have prayers that some government official wrote.

The school had said that this was voluntary ... that the students did not have to participate, but due to peer pressure against those that did not, this was a problem.

Many secondary schools have Bible clubs, which meet outside school hours. This is allowed because it is a voluntary organization.

A related issue is whether federal funds can go to parochial schools.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827720,00.html

You might also consider where in general public life, it is not unusual to have great freedom of religion, that we do not find in the school system.

The military has a system of chaplins. This is supposed to give the armed forces access to leaders of their religion, but it is voluntary, or rather it is supposed to be.

You might check out stories about religious persecution in the military academies, where supposedly Christian Fundamentalists are ganing up on students who practice some other religion.

Answer 8

Public school should be a free place I always believed it was for kids to be able to make their own decision. Like Christians for example, whom, most are very strong in their faith. Usually attend public school, I'm sure they would appreciate some flexible rules regarding their prayer. Then again with so much multiculturalism, Christianity would just be the begining, then you would have to allow everyone elses, and then you get into too many religious backrounds and beliefs, then anger, hate, and wars.... Lets face it school should be a place to learn and be who you want to be... leave religion out of it...{I was raised Catholic, but turn away from them due to the rules this religion required...not to mention the priests....}

Answer 9

Consider the difference between allowing private prayer in school, versus mandating prayer in school.

Look at the intent of the 1st Amendment, and the ways the courts have interpreted the Establishment Clause ("respecting the establishment of religion") versus the Free Exercise Clause ("nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof").... does the analysis change with allowing versus mandating?

Look at the concept of one area where 90% of the population is one religion, and see if your analysis is different where three or four religions are all equally common.

Answer 10

There is no case that can be made for this. The courts have repeatedly and correctly ruled that any sort of enforced religious practice is unConstitutional. In a classroom setting, even "voluntary" prayer is effectivelt enforced.

Answer 11

As the person above me said, mandatory prayer could never be allowed as it is against the consistutional that causes seperation of state (public schools) and religion. volutunary parayer would be allowed as there is freedom of speech and expression. Hope this helps.