prayer in school :: essays research papers

Prayer In School A very controversial widespread issue today is the right to have prayer in public schools. The proposed amendment reads: â€Å"To secure the people’s right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience. The people’s rights to pray and to recognize their belief, heritage or traditions on public property, shall not be infringed. The government shall not require any person to join in the prayer or religious activity, initiate or designate school prayers, discriminate against any religion, or deny equal access to benefit on account of religion. (AVSP)† This would permit but not mandate school prayer. I think that the government should be focused on the school’s academics, not what religion they are to study. The proposed amendments would cause nothing but trouble considering that there would be many arguments on what beliefs should be taught. Religion is private and schools are public. Having any prayer in school goes against the basis in which our country was formed upon. America came into being because colonists wanted religious freedom. Our founding fathers carefully wrote the constitution to grant the freedom of separation of church and state. A prayer created and supported by a government violate the very essence of the spirit in which the US was formed. (Haas35) Therefore, having a prayer in school would be unconstitutional. â€Å"A radical school prayer amendment would attack the heart and soul of the bill of rights which safeguards the rights of the individual from tyranny of the individual.† (Jasper96) Teachers are public employees, paid by the taxpayers. The time it takes to recite a prayer is an expenditure of tax dollars. (Haas36 ) This is a violation of the separation of church and state. This whole issue is a big waste of time because students do have the right to pray at school. No one can stop them from praying individually, silently, or personally. this right has never, and could never be outlawed. (AVSP ) The real motive is to install group prayer.