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1st Amendment and school prayer?
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The 1st amendment can't be any more clear. It says Congress shall make no law. So why is voluntary prayer in school banned? If someone wants to say a Christian prayer in school they get in trouble. Federal laws against school prayer are an "abridging of the freedom of speech." Making people say a prayer would be a "law respecting an establishment of religion." No one is saying the schools should force you to pray. They are just saying if you want to pray then you can. This is an attack on the 1st amendment!
4 Answers
- ?Lv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
The Court's interpretation of the Establishment Clause has turned into a complicated mess.
Just so we're clear here, the Court has said that the 14th Amendment requires the states to obey the same principles of the First Amendment that were originally applied only to the federal government. So the fact that the First Amendment begins with "Congress" DID originally mean only the federal government, not the states, but the 14th Amendment has imposed the rules in the Bill of Rights on the states too.
But, as I started off saying, the Court has made a mess out of what the Establishment Clause means. The Court has often said that the Clause prohibits government (any level of it) from promoting religion and endorsing religion. Indeed, in the realm of school prayer, the Court even struck down a state law that required the public schools to observe a moment of SILENCE, because the legislation that was passed explicitly said that the PURPOSE of the silence was "for prayer and meditation." In this case from 1985, the Court repeated its previous rule that legislation cannot PROMOTE religion; legislation like this must serve a SECULAR PURPOSE.
I agree with you that the teacher-led prayers in school that the Court found unconstitutional in 1962 were voluntary -- Justice Douglas wrote a concurring opinion emphasizing the fact that the prayers were voluntary, that no children were required to recite the prayer -- but the Court's interpretation of the Establishment Clause is not limited to only things that people might be forced to do against their will.
- ANDRE LLv 78 years ago
Because saying a prayer *aloud* in school infringes on the time of everyone else there who then isn't given a choice to NOT have to hear it.
And, that amendment means that NO school that takes any public money can mandate any obligatory religious activities. That's a good thing, because it also stops your school from making your kids do Islamic rituals.
No, laws against mandatory school prayer are NOT an infringement of freedom of speech, any more than school dress codes are an infringement of the freedom to dress like a slob.
-Don't pray in my school, and I won't think in your church.-
- usfirstgovLv 68 years ago
If you want to pray, you can, just make sure it's to yourself, in silent and not out loud. Praying out loud can be considered disturbing the class, similarly to talking in class.
