School Prayer Should Be Allowed Essay Research

Paper

School Prayer Should Be Allowed

I attended twelve years of Catholic School. My parents consented to the

decision of my enrollment and they knew what was involved. They knew that the

study of God and prayer was mandatory. Prayer in school in my case produced and

environment of discipline and respect for the teachers. The involvement of my

parents and the faculty in the use of prayer was in full agreement. However, my

view was not even considered important. My rights had been violated.

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States gives every

individual the same rights. One right is the constitutional protection for the

free exercise of religion. The second right is prohibition of the establishment

of religion by the state. The founders of the constitution recognized the

freedom of religion as an important factor in establishing a democracy. They

also recognized a space of freedom between the government and the people,

whereby the government could not force an individual or group to do something

they did not want to do. The government is not upholding their part of the

constitution. They are trying to tell people that saying prayer in public school

is unconstitutional.

In fact, prayer in public school is legal, so is prayer in church and

prayer in stores etc… . The area which is not legal is when students or

teachers pray when engaged in school activities or instruction. This means

students or teachers may pray in an informal setting, such as cafeterias and

hallways. They may talk about and discuss problems with religion and their

beliefs at that time. A person may come to school early and sit quietly and

pray. With the permission of the school a group of students could establish a

prayer club. All these things are legal, but what the government is trying to

avoid is mandatory school prayer. Mandatory school prayer is illegal and

violates the constitution. It would contradict all separation between church and

state. If prayer in public school was made necessary the country would most

likely be divided. You would have the religious leader ecstatic about the

freedom of prayer. Then you would have offended non-believers or believer of

other denominatio ns or people who find the government too controlling. With

legalization of prayer, would come disruption in the way the government is run.

Whereby the beliefs of an individual, like the president or a member of congress,

would set goals using feelings and not thinking through the problem. For

example, a president with strong religious beliefs would be against anything

dealing with moral issues. The ideals of an individual would then be imposed on

another. Also the government, in giving permission to a prayer in school, would

imply that one religion was better than the another. This could be solved by

giving each major religion a prayer and read separately by individuals.

School prayer should be decided by the parents and the individual.

This way giving more control over what happens to where it belongs. The parents

who are religious would not mind if their children recited prayers. These

people are Christian leaders or participate in church activities, who like my

parents, have brought their children up in a Christian manner. The people who

would care are the ones who follow no religious faith. They would find an

enforced prayer offensive. This debate will never end and the parents and their

children have every right to their beliefs. In conclusion, I feel prayer in a

public school should be allowed only on the following conditions:

1. The individuals or groups pray away from others who don’t wish to pray.

2. That the individual or group respect the rights of others by not enforcing

them to pray. The same goes for the people who don’t wish to pray. They may not

enforce their views upon the others.

3. The government shall not enforce any act or show any disrespect towards the

rights of each individual.

In following these guidelines prayer in school should be allowed and

under the First Amendment of the Constitution is allowed. There is no role for

the government in the matter of prayer in school other than to provide a safe

haven for prayer. This would produce an environment of peace and respect for

others. Instead of hearing about gangs, shootings, and delinquency we would

have a majority of well-rounded individuals with a respect for life.