Though I am not a
Christian (or a member of any organized religion, for that matter), I feel that
prayer should be allowed in public schools, provided it's led by
students and not forced on anyone. I fail to see why ideas such as
freedom of speech and
freedom of religion do not extend to our
public learning institutions. If a group of Christian kids gets together on the
schoolyard to pray before class, how is this violating the
separation of church and state, which is an idea about tax money going to religious groups? Is it because non-Christians might feel awkward? How do you think I felt when everyone else in my
class would play
wallball, or some other schoolyard game I
despised? Should we outlaw
everything that every student doesn't want to
participate in?
Why is is that one is allowed to express one's political and social opinions in class, but not allowed to discuss their system of religious beliefs? I don't know about you, but I think our children should learn to be tolerant and understanding of all religions, and I think it would be wonderful if students could discuss their beliefs openly and not be put-off by the beliefs of others. What's the threat in letting children of all religions celebrate their faith at school?
I see by the
voting that many of you are missing my exact sentiments here: I agree with most of what's below. No one should be forced to
pray, students should pray on their own, not led by the school, and members of any religion should be able to pray to any god, including
Satan,
Zeus, and
Cthulu. Also, I was responding more to the ideas expressed in the first write-up than the
reality of the situation; I know the type of prayer I describe is not
illegal.
lillianvalencia, however, seems to want to go one step further... "If you want to pray in school, either go to a private catholic school, or do it in your head."