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Importance Of Prayer At School
Prayer in public schools
Outline on prayer in schools
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Prayer in School Abstract The paper tries to argue that prayer in school should be a regular practice as it helps in the proper development of the students. The prayers teach values and morality among the children. Moreover, prayers should not be seen as markers of religion only. The universality of the prayers has to be understood. The counterarguments to the opinion in favor of prayer in school are discussed. The error of the opinion is also pointed out. Thus, it is concluded that prayers in school are beneficial for students.
Prayer in School There is a debate about allowing prayers to be a part of the daily practice in schools in the country. There are some people who say
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Their wish should be respected by the society. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling has taken the decision of replacing the phrase "freedom of religion" that was guaranteed by the Constitution with the phrase "freedom for religion." But, it should be remembered that the non-religious community in the nation state of America is a minority. The number of people who follow religion is far more than the non-religious people. So, banning prayer in school would mean that religious students are forced to keep away from praying in school. It would be a problem for their right to follow and practice their religious beliefs. So, it can be said that the Supreme Court has incorrectly interpreted the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. A voluntary and simple school prayer does not mean that the government wants to establish a religion all over. The government recognition religious days of the tear or National Days of Prayer work more in the establishment of a specific religion in the country. Thus, it would be wrong to say that the prayer in schools is a way of establishing a religion. That would be a very wrong perspective of the matter. On the other hand, if there is a practice of prayer in schools, it would bring many benefits. The public school system is getting bad with time. There is increase in use of drugs, school shootings, alcoholism, HIV transmission, and teenage …show more content…
Making prayers an important part of schools can be very helpful. This practice would provide a sense of holiness and peace in the students' minds. The prayers have the power to create a holy ambiance. That would help in the process of learning many values like discipline, humility, and respect among the children. Thus, the school children would realize the importance of the ethics in life. The prayers encourage the children to believe in the values in their lives. Thus, it helps in the process of personality development. Then, the students grow up to be better individuals. If the prayers are banned in the schools, that would mean that all of this would not be possible. Apart from this, a ban would only support the non-religious people. Thus, the students would not have their freedom of religion. So, it would be best to make the students take part in prayers. That would spread the message of propriety of life and piety. As such, school prayer would help the students to walk on the right path. They would learn the values of life and can be better people. The religious students would be able to observe the beliefs during the time of the school if prayers are allowed. Also, the prayers would have an effect on the mind of the students irrespective of the religious preaching. Without distinguishing different religions, one important thing has to be reckoned. The aim of religion is to spread the word of peace and
This paper deals with the stance of our schools and government on prayer in school. In this paper I will show how our government is hypocritical in its dealings of the prayer in school issue and how some of us as citizens are hypocritical as well. I will discuss the freedom of religion rights and how its interpretation affects prayer in school. Also, I will address the popular phrase, “separation of church and state”, that is often used to argue against prayer in school.
In 1962 the Supreme Court decided that public schools did not have the power to authorize school prayer. This decision made public school in the U.S. more atheistic than many European nations. For example, crosses still hang on the classroom walls in Poland, and the Ten Commandments are displayed in Hungary. There are prayers held at the beginning of legislative and judicial sessions and every President has mentioned a divine power in his inaugural speech. In keeping with a spirit of religious freedom as stated in the First Amendment, there is no reason why students should not be allowed to have a moment of silence during the school day when they can pray or do as they choose.
Chapter three of Civil Liberties: Opposing Viewpoints inspired me to research today’s issues of school prayer. To understand how we got to where we are today, I first delved into our countries history of court cases pertaining to rulings on prayer in schools. Lastly, to update my audience on how our lives are being affected today, I directed my efforts toward finding current situations. By analyzing these situations, I gained knowledge for a better understanding of why society needs to be aware of these controversies. I don’t think there should be any form of organized prayer in today’s public schools.
Religion was and is beneficial to schools because it sets a positive tone. Schools and teachers setting a consistent positive tone for students was broken when prayer was taken out of schools. Prayer helped teachers to set an enlightened tone among their students’ day, as well as aided them to push them in a positive direction. The positive tone in schools helped to promote unity. Teachers are supposed to be positive role models to children, as the absence of both mother and father in homes continually diminishes. There is also less bullying among students when religion is in schools.
until the middle of the 20th century, organized prayer and Bible reading were practiced by public schools across the country. In 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school prayer to be unconstitutional in the landmark case, Engel v. Vitale. Just two years later, in another landmark case, the court would decide that school sanctioned Bible readings and other similar religious activities should not be allowed as well (http://www.oyez.org/cases). Should these rulings continue to stand in this country? Yes. The government of the United States of America should continue to disallow prayer in the public school system. Praying public schools ...
Religion is one of the most controversial issues in society today. The concern of allowing prayer in schools is an on-going debate and has resulted in numerous lawsuits. Religious school clubs, after school activities, curriculums, and moments of silence during school are just a few of the court cases that judges have administered. People in favor of prayer in schools believe that their children can only learn certain values through religious practice. On the other hand, an individual against religious practice in schools views this issue as an infringement on his or her children’s rights as Americans.
Students are guaranteed the right to pray, as long as it is not disruptive, and it is not promoted during classroom hours. Not only are these permitted, they are actually protected forms of speech under the U.
Many believe that public schools are for educating, not proselytizing. Mixing religion and school is not appropriate since schools are public and religion is private. Public schools are open to everyone, whether Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist or Christian. (Gaylor) People with all types of religions pay taxes that support the school; therefore it is not appropriate to enforce a specific religion on all students. Your personal religion is your decision; the government and schools cannot interfere with it. It is unconstitutional for the government to decide your religion for you. Government-mandated prayer would violate freedom of religion because it enforces a certain religion on all students. Allowing students...
Religion in school can be defined as the practice of any personal religious belief or act in a place of education. To say that religion is a big topic of interest to a lot of people in the United States today is a bit of an understatement. The debate over the separation of church and state has been going on without end for years. With many different perspectives on the matter and even more opinions on how it should be handled. Since the beginning many people have challenged the role that religion has played in education. Should schools teach religion? If so, can they do it evenhandedly? Will they misinterpret the religion wrong? How many people would be offended? Would we be better off without it so that it doesn’t cause controversy? The problem is can we truly answer any of these arguments without the opposite side disagreeing? Many of these questions are rooted from the same controversy that is happening in schools today. Aside from the separation of church and states comes one of the vastly debatable topics of education allowing religion which is prayer in school. While a few believe that prayer in school is constructive to the development of a child and their faith, others may conclude that it could completely denounce the faith of a child. Because this is an ongoing controversy further research on whether religion should or should not be allowed in public education is usually boils down to two major points the First Amendment and is religion good for our children? Could we potentially have a compromise or could the two opposing sides meet somewhere in the middle?
The intercom comes on in a classroom first thing in morning and says “now kids, it is time for our prayer”. Every kid in the class joins hands and starts to respectfully pray. Once the prayer is finished, they all go back to work and are more unified together, right? That is usually not the case. More likely than not, only several kids in the class joins the prayer. Most kids then laugh at the others praying, breaking the bonds between the two. With religion being brought up in school, there are more possibilities for debate between children ending in violence. Three fourths of kids at my high school will not even recite the pledge of allegiance just because it says god in it. Public schools should not have any impact on religion. Christian Groups are sneaking religion into high schools.
Prayer in School: Good or Bad? As secular humanists and groups like the Christian Coalition are at war with each other regarding prayer in high schools behind closed doors in Washington DC, the average high school kid is the one that gets caught in the middle. For years now there has been a heated debate about whether or not prayer should be allowed in school. Every time the argument is rekindled, it ends in a stalemate, and is a topic that campaigning politicians tend to stay away from.
The first and fourteenth amendments to the constitution establish the rules that apply to school prayer. The first amendment says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The 14th Amendment of the Constitution has several clauses; the clause that pertains to school prayer is the Equal Protection Clause requiring each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people within that state. What this means is, each student in the school is protected from being forced to pray in school in any certain way.
While students are attending public schools they should be aware of their religion options. The student should have the right to practice their religion as they please, just on the own time. Yes, religion plays a huge part in molding a person but, should be practiced when the time is available, not in a classroom setting. The government should have the ability to control the protection of the students that just want to learn. The capability to regulate the religious practices while attending public educational institutions should be left to the government. Faith, religion and belief, usually are three words that are used to describe one situation, although these words have three different meanings. To have faith in something or someone you must first believe in it and also accept it as well, but have a belief without evidence. Religion is a belief in a heavenly superhuman power or principle, such as the almighty or creator to all things. Everyone has faith and belief, but not all believers believe in the almighty. Allowing religion into public schools while everyone attending not having the same belief is unfair, unconstitutional and is complicated to teach to a verity of students.
To have prayer in the public school system is against the idea of separation of church and state. The state should not institute school prayer because the public schools are for education, not a place where religion should be taught (Gaylor, 1995, p. 1). The state should not force every child to say a prayer in the classroom because not everyone believes...
School prayer, in the context of religious liberty, is state-sanctioned or mandatory prayer by students in public schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, state-sponsored prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited. Countries which prohibit or limit school prayer often differ in their reasons for doing so: In the United States, school prayer cannot be required of students in accordance with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The concept map made me better understand the social issues that I chose in many different ways.