Prayer Should Not be Recited in Public Schools

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Abington vs. Schempp In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that prayer should not be recited in public schools, but then again in 1963 there were some people that said that forbidding recitation of prayer was not enough. This issue was brought to the Supreme Court in the case Abington vs. Schempp. There were four states, one of which was Pennsylvania, that required ten verses of the Bible to be read every morning, and then students had to recite the Lord's Prayer. In a previous court case, students could be excused from the prayer recitation by a written note from the parents. In the most recent court case, Engel vs. Vitale it was decided that requiring students to recite the Lord's Prayer infringed on their First Amendment rights to have freedom of religion. Being required to pray the Lord's Prayer was forcing them to be Christian-like. But the required Bible reading had not been eliminated in that court case so Edward Schempp made an attempt get rid of it. Edward Schempp had a son in the public school in the Abington school district who said that he did not believe in Jesus, his birth, or in the Trinity so the Bible readings were against his belief. Since he was forced to attend the devotions in the morning he was being denied his First Amendment rights. The Abington school district countered the argument saying that the Bible taught good morals that all kids should learn to have. The Pennsylvania District Court ruled in favor of Schempp saying that required Bible reading violated the Free Exercises clause of the First Amendment. Even though a parent could excuse their child, it did not prevent the school from violating the First Amendment. Abington was not pleased with the results and appealed to the Supreme Court. The Court also... ... middle of paper ... ...when the Reformation started to spread from Germany to the Netherlands, to Switzerland, etc. So from history I think that on earth, in our world, Church and State can not be combined. So in a way the Court's rulings were good, but the fact that it caused America to become quite ungodly makes me want to choose the middle line. It was good and bad in my opinion. Jeremiah 18:15 is another good verse: "Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up." I think this verse accurately describes America. By forbidding prayer and Bible reading in public schools, and "burning incense to vanity" they forgot the Christian principles that America was founded on, America went from a relatively Christian nation to a very, very ungodly nation.

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