Should a Catholic school be reimbursed by the state for school supplies?Should there be time set aside in school for kids to pray? These are some ofthe many questions the U. S. Supreme Court asks themselves when they areconfronted with cases involving religion in school. Although there are somesound supporting arguments for prayer in school, the opposing argumentsmore than justify the non-religious atmosphere of public school. Supportingarguments for In School Prayer have little validity.
For instance one argumentis that the framers of the constitution were religious, so they didnt mean toprohibit all government sponsored prayer or acknowledgment of GOD. Thisis assuming one way just to be in favor of the In School Prayer idea. Pro-Prayer activists also believe that it is VERY important for the nationschildren to have religious values instilled in them. I strongly disagree with thisstatement solely because they are assuming that someone without a religionhas lower or no values as compared to a religious person. Valid arguments onthis side of the issue are rare, but they do exist.
One example is that in publicpolls, seventy-eight percent of the nations thinks prayer in public schools is agood idea. This logical at first, but the truth is many polls convey the notionthat voluntary prayer before, after, and during school is forbidden. Anotherargument addresses the fact that religion is already everywhere anyway. It ison our currency, our leaders are sworn into office with reference to GOD,and our flag salute also contains religious statements. These are good points toaddress, however, I believe they are wrong as well. Two wrongs dont makea right.
Opposing arguments are a lot more convincing than the supportingpoints. First of all, students have the right to conduct religious practices onschool property, so there is no need to set aside specific time in the curriculumfor prayer. Secondly, how could a school have prayer without segregatingpeople into religious and non-religious groups? Finally, prayer serves nopurpose in a school curriculum, some may argue that it helps to teach goodhabits, but there are many other ways to teach good habits than just religion. On a closing note, In School Prayer has its supporters and opposers. Mypersonal opinion is obviously that this is a completely ludicrous notion anddoesnt have any substantial support for it.Category: Social Issues
