Difference between revisions of "US/education/primary/public/prayer"

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[[Category:Issues]]
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==Overview==
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[[page type::article]]
A somewhat hastily-written summary: In the United States, the legal doctrine of separation of church and state requires that government-funded activities not be religious in nature. This includes public schools, which are (now) not allowed to call for prayer or other religious-oriented activities (though as far as I know they still do include the "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance). This apparently bothers many religiously-oriented people, for reasons which are not entirely clear.
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[[thing type::activity]]
==Notes==
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[[subject::prayer in US public schools]]
I'm seeing claims (e.g. [[The Sneeze (internet chain mail)|The Sneeze]]) that it's not just teachers and staff who are not allowed to conduct religious activities, but that even students are not allowed to conduct them &ndash; that even the mention of "God" at a school event is somehow not allowed. ''Is this true?'' --[[User:Woozle|Woozle]] 20:59, 30 May 2006 (EDT)
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[[country::United States]]
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[[category:issues]]
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[[category:religion]]
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</hide>
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==About==
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In the {{USA}}, the legal doctrine of [[separation of church and state]] requires that [[US/gov|government]]-funded activities not be [[religious]] in nature, in order to preserve [[separation of church and state]]. This includes public schools, which are not allowed to call for or conduct prayer or other religious activities (though ironically, as far as I know they still do include the relatively-new "under God" in the [[Pledge of Allegiance]], and this is seldom if ever questioned).
  
It depends on the case, the school, the teacher, etc. My son has been reprimanded for saying a private prayer to himself before lunch at school. For me that falls under the First Amendment, "...free exercise thereof..." [[User:Midian|Midian]] 16:17, 28 July 2006 (EDT)
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This apparently bothers many religiously-oriented people, for reasons which are not entirely clear.
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===Myth===
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There is a myth, widely propagated by leaders of the [[religious right]], that even individual religious expression (such as prayer) by students is forbidden; this is often described in inflammatory terms such as "kicking God out of the schools".
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This misperception has been reinforced by a number of incidents in which school officials, for reasons which remain unclear, did in fact attempt to suppress such expression. The courts have almost always ruled in favor of the individual's freedom to religious expression.
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Another myth is that the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] (ACLU) has been complicit in these attempts, defending the school rather than the individual freedom of expression; in fact, the ACLU have many times defended freedom of religious expression, including that of Christians, Muslims, and other religious groups.
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==Related Articles==
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* Prayer in US public schools is often an [[issue]] because it is heavily promoted by the [[religious right]] but conflicts with the [[separation of church and state]] required by the [[US Constitution]] (a fact often denied by the promoters).
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* [[The Sneeze (internet chain mail)]] purports to be a true story in which students were forbidden from expressing religious sentiment.
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==Links==
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===Reference===
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* {{wikipedia|School prayer#United States}}
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* {{conservapedia|Classroom prayer}}
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** see also: [[conservapedia:Debate:Should class room prayer be allowed in Public Schools?]]
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* [http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/pledge.htm Snopes] verifies that an appeals court ruled that teacher-led recitation of the [[Pledge of Allegiance]] in public schools is unconstitutional.

Latest revision as of 12:38, 28 June 2013

About

In the United States, the legal doctrine of separation of church and state requires that government-funded activities not be religious in nature, in order to preserve separation of church and state. This includes public schools, which are not allowed to call for or conduct prayer or other religious activities (though ironically, as far as I know they still do include the relatively-new "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and this is seldom if ever questioned).

This apparently bothers many religiously-oriented people, for reasons which are not entirely clear.

Myth

There is a myth, widely propagated by leaders of the religious right, that even individual religious expression (such as prayer) by students is forbidden; this is often described in inflammatory terms such as "kicking God out of the schools".

This misperception has been reinforced by a number of incidents in which school officials, for reasons which remain unclear, did in fact attempt to suppress such expression. The courts have almost always ruled in favor of the individual's freedom to religious expression.

Another myth is that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been complicit in these attempts, defending the school rather than the individual freedom of expression; in fact, the ACLU have many times defended freedom of religious expression, including that of Christians, Muslims, and other religious groups.

Related Articles

Links

Reference