Created: 1993 

Prayer in Public Schools

"When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one." —Benjamin Franklin

I am not aware of any law or court decision which prohibits a student or faculty member from praying or meditating in a public school in the United States, so long as that action is entirely voluntary, is not distracting or disruptive, and does not detract from the purpose for which tax monies are spent on public schools: secular education.  What is forbidden by law is the explicit or implicit establishment of religion by government, in this case represented by the public school system, by its faculty, or by students under its direction.  School board policy may not favor one religion over another, or religion over non-religion.  It may not encourage organized class prayer; but neither may it discourage individuals from voluntary, non-disruptive prayer or meditation, as long as the educational process is not thereby impeded.

The issue of whether public school facilities, funded by tax dollars from taxpayers of all persuasions, ought to be available for religious as well as secular extra-curricular activities is still hotly contested.  However, some court decisions have relaxed previous restrictions somewhat, allowing local school boards to permit student groups to use school property for voluntary religious study and worship during hours when school is not in session.  However, in order to comply with the Constitution, any policy which permits Christian Bible study or worship on public school grounds must also permit analogous activities for the followers of any other religious persuasions, including atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, pagans, Satanists, Shintoists and Taoists, which might be represented by even a single student.  And yes, even disciples of Baghwan Sri Rajneesh, Sun Myung Moon's "Moonies," and "Bob's Church of the Subgenius" must be granted equal access if they request it.  It therefore behooves citizens, clergy, and politicians to consider fully just what they are doing when campaigning to permit religious use of public school facilities.  As the saying goes, "Be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it!"

=SAJ=

Afterthought

As far as I know, there is nothing in the Constitution or its amendments which would preclude the teaching of religion as an elective course in public schools, provided such classes give equal attention to all significant faiths, and provided the content of such classes is strictly informational and not geared toward indoctrination or practice.  Indeed, I think this would be an excellent way to acquaint students with the variety of beliefs and traditions to be found, not only in the rest of the world, but even within the United States itself.  However, I do not expect major religious organizations to push for any such measure, since they tend to be fearful of having their own ideas compared to "the competition," especially in the presence of impressionable young people.  Nor do I suppose that the presentation of such classes would be feasible, due to the lack of teachers who could present such material in a balanced and unbiased way.