Carley+Hall

By: Carley Hall Guided Research Question How can students enrolled in public schools express Freedom of Religion through prayer?

Praying in public schools is a very popular controversial issue that America is facing in recent times. Citizens that have a religion or believe in a God would love and appreciate prayer being allowed in public school and universities. The First Amendment does allow the expression of Freedom of Religion. However, it has become unclear in many schools as to how they can express their faith. The question of public prayer has become popular because that is often how believers try to express that faith. In some instances, public prayer has become offensive to those who do not have a religion or do not share the same religion of the one being expressed. The citizens of this country should be allowed to pray in public schools because they are granted the Freedom of Religion through the First Amendment.

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 * PROS of Prayer in Schools**
 * It allows students to express their views
 * It provides hope and encouragement to start the day
 * It allows students to practice their rights under the First Amendment's Freedom of religion "First Amendment Center." //First Amendment Center//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
 * Allows students to practice their rights under the Freedom of speech
 * Allows teachers to express their views for a short time because they are not allowed to share their religoius views
 * Allows students and teachers to acknowlegde, thank, and worship their God


 * CONS of Prayer in Schools**
 * Prayer can be offensive to those who do not believe in that particular religion "FindLaw | Cases and Codes." //FindLaw | Cases and Codes//. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.
 * Prayer can be offensive to those who are atheist
 * It's a distraction from education
 * It might not always be appropriate
 * It can be seen as forcing a religion upon the students

Santa Fe Independent School District vs. Doe
This court case presents the issue of praying at school held events on school grounds. At a high school football game, two parents disagreed with a prayer over the speaker system and filed a suit against the district. The final court decision was that prayer in these circumstances was unconstitutional because it was public speech. "Santa Fe Independent School District vs. Doe." //Find Law Cases and Codes//. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

Engel vs. Vitale The Engel vs. Vitale case approaches the idea of required prayers that must be recited in schools. The Board of Education in New Hyde Park, New York caused a specific prayer to be recited in all classrooms at the beginning of the day. Ten disgruntled parents challenged the prayer claiming that it was unconstitutional. The court decided that by the First Amendment, the government cannot produce prayers that must be recited. "Engel vs. Vitale." //Find Law Cases and Codes//. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

Wallace vs. Jaffree The Wallace vs. Jaffree case addresses an instance where the moment of silence was intended for “meditating and voluntary prayer.” The court ruled that this change to the moment of silence was encouraging a religious affliction and did not allow it. It was elaborated that the neutral moment of silence would still be allowed as long as it did not promote particular religious views. "Wallace vs. Jaffree." //Find Law Cases and Codes//. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. =What I Thought= When I first heard that I was going to be writing about the first amendment, I immediately wanted to write about religion because I am very involved my own personal religion. I was not aware of how many court cases had arose from the subject of prayer in schools. I found numerous examples of cases that ruled against prayer like //Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe// and the //Wallace v. Jaffree// cases, and that took me by surprise. It also shocked me that I could not find any court cases where the government ruled in favor of prayer. That factor made me truly think about the government’s point of view in these cases. I found that it would be easier to argue against the separation of church and state than to argue for a specific element of religion in schools.

However, I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and dedicate all that I do in my life to Him. Because Christianity is a major part of my life, I hope that my freedom to express my religion will never be taken away from me. Prayer is not only an essential factor to Christianity, but also to many other religions. It would be a shame to see people who believe in a religion not be able to pray in places like public schools. Teenagers like myself spend a minimum of seven hours at school each day, not including the extra time many spend at extra-curricular activities. Most religions encourage its’ followers to worship and evangelize throughout the day. How are students in schools going to properly do this without being able to pray?