What is this world coming to?

Question

A Texas family is suing Gov. Rick Perry and a school district over a state-mandated moment of silence in schools, according to The Dallas Morning News.

David Wallace Croft and his wife, Shannon, of Carrollton, Texas, have three children at Rosemeade Elementary and argue that the moment of silence is unconstitutional and amounts to state-sanctioned school prayer.

The couple has a history of complaints against religious-affiliated words and images in schools, having previously complained about Boy Scout rallies held during school, fliers sent home about Good News Bible Club meetings and the inclusion of "Silent Night" and a Hanukkah song in holiday concerts, according to report.

• Click here to read the story from The Dallas Morning News.

Krista Moody, a spokeswoman for Perry, said the moment of silence law that the Crofts filed a suit against on March 1, 2006, was passed in 2003 and calls for students to observe a moment of silence after reciting pledges to the U.S. and Texas flags each day.


The governor is certainly in favor of allowing students and faculty to quietly reflect on what they chose," Moody told FOXNews.com.

Moody said the beauty behind the freedom of the law is children get to do with the moment what they wish. There are no guidelines behind the silence.

Angela Shelley, media specialist for the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District, could not comment on the case due to current litigation but said that in dealing with the Crofts, the district has been fair and is following the law.

"We have been fair and equal to everybody," she told FOXNews.com. "We need to respect everybody and value everybody’s opinion. We are following the letter of the law."

Ted Cruz, solicitor general for Texas who represented Perry at a federal district court hearing on Tuesday, said the Crofts are arguing specifically that every moment of silence statute in the country is unconstitutional, and even if that first point is not correct, they further argue any statute that mentions the word "pray" is unconstitutional.

Twenty-five states have moment-of-silence statutes. Thirteen of them explicitly specify prayer as an option the child can choose.

The Crofts are citing a case from the 1980s that struck down a moment of silence statute in Alabama.

"That argument is contrary to binding U.S. Supreme Court precedent," Cruz told FOXNews.com.

Cruz said the Texas law is virtually identical to a Virginia state law that was unanimously held up in the federal court of appeals in 2001. The Supreme Court later declined to review that case. He said in initiating the current law, the Texas legislature has acted to protect the freedom of conscience of every child.

"The First Amendment was drafted to protect the religious liberty of everyone, not to express hostility to matters of faith," he told FOXNews.com.

Cruz said the federal court heard arguments on the matter Tuesday and would decide the case in about a month.

Why do Athiest say we are imposing our religon when they are doing the same thing!

Answer 1

Yeah, first I saw it on FoxNews.

Knowing what kind of idiotic drivel comes out of their mouths, I found it on another site--and amazingly enough, the Croft's still come off as ignorant.

Their primary objection seemed to be toward one teacher and one incident, in which she said the moment of silence was for explicitly for prayer, and then she closed her eyes and folded her hands.

While that teacher's actions aren't appropriate for public schools (I should know, teaching in one), there is nothing wrong with a moment of silence per se.

Answer 2

A moment of silence each day adds up to 180 minutes, or three hours, of missed schooling each year. That's a lot, especially when you consider that school is for educating, not praying.

There is simply no need to have any religiously themed programs or activities in school. If you want to pray, pray at home.

I'm curious how you would feel about children of other beliefs being given equal time to worship each school day. Do that and nothing gets done. Or is school prayer only for the Christian kids?

Answer 3

Japan's tsunami became into led to by using the earthquake, that's purely led to by using plates under the floor moving. Its no enormous deal :-) additionally, the only reason they say 2012 is the top of the international, is by way of the fact all the planets are going to line up. they say which will make a gravitational distinction. PSH. liars. finally, the earth isn't spinning speedier. each thing would be ok. the international isnt coming to chaos- think of roughly it! those organic mess ups take place each 3 hundred and sixty 5 days. in our lifetime, the international won't come to an end. wish this helped! :-)

Answer 4

Gee, does this mean that I can praise my God and Goddess in Texas and not get lynched for being a Witch. How about if I start a Wiccan club and send flyers home to all parents?

No one needs a moment of silence when private prayer can come at anytime when you just pray silently. This moment of silence is a waste of time for other people who are in school to learn. Just wasting time arguing about it makes it a statement of them versus us. Atheists out to keep Christians from what? Silence! Religion is implied based on the need to take time out to silently embrace it.

Point blank, I pray when I choose and I don't need to disrupt everyone to do it. How simple... and it doesn't make others feel at risk. You either believe in your God or not.

Answer 5

We shouldn't pay tax dollars so that people our children can be forced to pray. The teacher told the children the time was specifically for praying.

Praying to an invisible man in the sky. If the teacher was asking children to pray to a marshmallow square, you'd probably think it was a waste of time too.

Answer 6

Atheist are not imposing on your religion. They are not forcing another religion onto you. You have every right to practice your religion where ever you want as long as its not on the state time and dime.
That being said, I'm not Christian and I have no issue with a moment of silence. There is nothing wrong with taking a minute out of your day to get your thoughts together and prepater mentally for the day ahead. But that's just me. It's only religious if you want it to be.
BUT don't sit here and whine about how we "impose" on your damn rights. Get over yourself.

Answer 7

Dude, these are two crazy people. I have a problem with prayer AND the pledge, but a moment of silence is fine. I'm sure most non-believers agree with me. Calm down, I'm sure nothing will come of this.

Answer 8

This needs to be about 1000% shorter. As for losing out on a moment of silence, tears all around. Both atheists and Christians need to suck it up once in a while and accomodate one another. We live in one messed up, lawsuit driven country, so be kind, considerate, and overall cautious.

Answer 9

Well first I don't care about a moment of silence. In my opinion it's no big deal.

But in regards to your actual question, that is not imposing religion on people. Children go to school to learn, so having them do that has nothing to do with religion. If anything, it is simply denying any religion in school.

Answer 10

As an atheist, I'm all for moments of silence. Even an atheist can participate in a moment of meditation or reflection.