<p>I'm just curious what your views are. Also, add if you are religious or not.</p>
<p>(but I wonder - is it illegal just to silently pray in school? I mean, you just show that type of body language - it could be interpreted in different ways)</p>
<p>As for me, I'm agnostic and I frankly don't care. Hell, I sometimes just pretend to pray (it makes me feel better at times). So I'd probably actually be happier if it came into place, even though there's no remote chance that I'd convert to any of the current major world religions.</p>
<p>In Wallace v. Jaffree, it was ruled that one minute set aside for “meditation” in public schools is unconstitutional because it promoted religion. </p>
<p>And I would care if school prayer is legalized because it’s unconstitutional. It would also give schools the idea that forcing prayer on students is okay, which I completely disagree with.</p>
<p>(Sidenote: A bit of a coincidence but we’re doing case laws and moot courts in AP American Gov. right now. Some of those case laws and moot courts relate to this exact topic.)</p>
<p>Actually, it’s completely legal for you to pray in school (at least in California). You can even meet with other students and pray, but it has to be on your own time (ie a free period, Nutrition or lunch). The only thing that’s illegal here is for a teacher to tell us to pray.</p>
<p>The bigger issue in this case would be the ‘foot in the door’ scenario: if they legalize prayer in public schools, how long before we have Bible classes or intelligent design taught in biology? And THAT would **** of a lot of people.</p>
<p>It wouldn’t be illegal to teach Bible classes or intelligent design as long as those classes are electives and completely optional. They are not forcing you to teach it. People have a right to learn what ever they want to learn.</p>
<p>I really wouldn’t care, but I don’t see any point in it. The only thing it would do is p*** off atheists and that really wouldn’t accomplish anything. </p>
<p>I personally am Wiccan but I went to a Catholic school for nine years and we had to pray every morning. </p>
<p>I just don’t see WHY it needs to be illegal. If people want to pray without disrupting others, I see no harm in that. But once people try forcing other students to pray, THEN there would be a problem.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t have a problem with people praying on their own at school. It would only become a problem for me if it were forced upon everyone. I’m agnostic.</p>
<p>Mandated prayer, in any form (nondenominational, voluntary, reading from the bible) is illegal in public high schools.</p>
<p>I would have a problem with the legalization of mandated school prayer. School is supposed to be a neutral, state-operated entity, and forcing people to pray is effectively turning the state into the church. There is a reason why the Puritans and Separatists came to the “New World”, to escape religious persecution. Who is to say that some militant religious group wouldn’t try to mandate their own type of prayer? I don’t think beliefs should be forced. I mean, the entire point of the Bill of Rights is to ensure people personal freedoms, mandating belief would only serve to destroy our personal freedoms.</p>
<p>Notably, prayer is not illegal in any school in the United States of America, at least public(and hence if private only a violation of contract, not violation of law.)</p>
<p>While teachers can’t lead prayer(in public schools,) any individual young citizen praying cannot, by Constitutional Law and affirmed by the Supreme Court, be penalized, so long as it isn’t disruptive(theoretically this applies to all free speech as well(Tinker v. Des Moines, unfortunately I can’t recall the case that affirms the former, but if you want I could go look it up. It may actually have been that same one that banned mandatory prayer.)</p>
<p>The same also applies to religious clubs. If anyone going to a school wants to start a religious club, and other clubs exist, they cannot, by law(equal access, I think, but am not certain) stop its formation. In fact to do so would be illegal and a great lawsuit as well(I’m sure.)</p>
<p>To quote the affirming decision of Tinker v. Des Moines:</p>
<p>“[Constitutional] rights do not stop at the schoolhouse door.”</p>
<h2>[It wouldn’t be illegal to teach Bible classes or intelligent design as long as those classes are electives and completely optional. They are not forcing you to teach it. People have a right to learn what ever they want to learn.]</h2>
<p>Teaching Bible classes ina public school is and should be illegal. Why not have a class about the Koran then? Or the Bhagavad Gītā? Intelligent design belongs in a contemporary politics or religious class, not biology.</p>
<p>And forcing who to teach it? You seem to forget that the money used to fund these classes would be public money. I personally have no objection to optional religious classes but you can’t expect every taxpayer or even a majority to agree.</p>
<p>He’s not saying you HAVE to take them. They are OPTIONAL. In fact, most schools in my area have religious study classes and nobody is forced to take them obviously. They should be available as long as they are fairly represented. For instance, if there is a Bible class then there should be a Koran and Torah etc classes.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with the modern take on our history and denial of things many countries have done, including us, and yet I’ll still pay the money to let students take US History in school.</p>
<p>U.S. History is indisputably regarded as necessary knowledge. Comparing that to religion isn’t even a valid argument. This isn’t censoring, it’s just presenting only relevant information which is supported by fact or at least substantial evidence. If high schools had to time, I’m sure we’d take loads more classes in many more subjects. being as it is, however, the time we have in school is limited to those subjects which are essential. If you want to learn religion in school, fine; that’s why colleges offer courses like these.</p>
<p>So what are we arguing about? I don’t object too much to have them be optional, hell I’d love a class on the Koran but it’s simply not feasible. I do think that those who choose to should be able to go through high school without a single mention of modern religion. This means ‘the silent prayer act’, school-sponsored clubs, or anything else. </p>
<p>The prayer act is taking it too far in that you are taking time OUT OF the school day for EVERYONE so that they can pray. Don’t argue that ‘you don’t have to if you don’t want to’ because it is still baltant school sponsoring of religion.</p>
<p>I take a rather libertarian stance on the issue. I don’t care what you do with your own thoughts or your own time, but don’t expect my tax dollars to be paying for it. Public schools should not in any way be associated with religion, since they’re funded by the public. If citizens want religion, they’re free to organize prayer groups or what have you own their own during or before school, and they’re also free to avail themselves of religious classes at local churches. I don’t think having specific religion classes in public high schools makes sense–that’s why we have churches/mosques/synagogues.</p>
<p>Edit:
Noticed friedrice’s comment:
Yes, people have the right to learn what they want to. On their own time. With their own resources. They don’t have the right to learn about religion at the expense of the public.</p>
<p>Praying should neither be banned nor promoted and certainly not forced. I have seen way to many christians throwing up their “holy holy holies” for social purposes and too many more catholics that go to mass not to be written out of grandma’s will. We do not need that. its obnoxious. </p>
<p>Silent prayer is legal. Why is there a necessity for vocal prayer, then? Theoretically, both should work. Vocal prayer, however, would be noticed by all students. I’m not saying that praying is bad… but, this would bring religion into what is supposed to be a secular environment. To claim that a person’s “right to religion” is being denied is absolutely idiotic. The people who want to pray during the day can just pray silently. They can maintain their religious identity, and remain pious, yet not at the cost of an institution which is supposed to be separate from the church.</p>
<p>I am a Catholic (albeit not a very religious one). I disagree with school prayer because I don’t think it’s legal/Constitutional. Personally, it’s something that I could live with- although I wouldn’t partake in it. I’m not attacking anyone’s religion… But it’s simply unconstitutional.</p>
<p>That being said… if school prayer WERE legalized, would I protest or become very angry? Probably not. I think that there are more important things to fight than the legalization of school prayer. I think that we should work to minimize religious issues rather than magnify them (and by THIS, I don’t mean that we should IGNORE religious issues or downplay their importance. I mean that we should attempt to ameliorate them rather than further aggravate them.)</p>
<p>Illinois public schools just went through this about a month ago. For about three weeks, we had a “moment of silence” each day in homeroom that was a complete flop - no one was quiet, and people were really frustrated. A family from a nearby school ended up turning it into a court case, and a few days later, the moment of silence was gone. My homeroom teacher said that it was declared a violation of “separation of church and state”, which I guess makes sense, though we weren’t required to pray or anything, it was supposed to be time to “reflect”. I think that in the end, people felt uncomfortable and were able to make it look close enough to unconstitutional that it was eliminated.
I can tell you that if we had actually had a moment of praying, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable. I’m Jewish, as is nearly half of my school, and any prayer said aloud would probably be very Christian. There are also a few Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist students who would probably have been very upset too. So while I wasn’t especially offended by the moment of silence, I feel that praying needs to be kept out of public schools because it makes for a disquieting situation for a lot of students.</p>
<p>i’ll pray if i want to i dont care if its illegal or not. i mean i’m christian but have absolutely no problem with people of other faiths praying.</p>
<p>^Yeah, and you have the right to pray, as long as it’s not disruptive. Other people might have a problem with being forced (through social and peer pressure) to pray, which is partially the issue here. That, and the whole seperation of church and state thing, would concern me if school prayer in this sense is legalized.</p>
<p>There’s a school in…I forget which state…that just told its school that it has to allow 15 minutes each day for the Muslim students to pray. My grandpa was telling me about it.</p>
<p>I doubt it’ll last long because it’s unconstitutional.</p>
<p>I don’t care who prays in my school as long as it’s on their own time (ie at lunch or during passing period). I don’t want to HAVE to pray in school…prayer to me is a very private thing (even when I do it).</p>