Why does everyone believe that prayer isn't allowed in public schools?
Prayer is generally a private affair, between the person praying and God. You don't have to wait for someone to announce that its prayer time or for them to form the words for you. You don't have to kneel, bow your head, or fold your hands to pray. You don't have to do anything that signals to someone else that you're praying. You are free to pray at any time, in school or out. If you want to close your eyes when you pray, you can. No-one will stop you. When I went to public schools so many years ago, I prayed all the time. I don't think anyone knew I did since I wasn't making a public display of it. I suspect that children with a vibrant faith also pray all the time in public schools. But they understand that prayer is generally not a public event - it's a private communication, a communion, between an individual and God.
What's not allowed in public schools is group prayer led by a school authority figure - a teacher, a principal, et al. Allowing private prayer on the part of individuals at a time of their choosing but not public group prayer led seems consistent with what the Bible says about prayer.
"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6)
I think public prayer is too often about the person leading the prayer (if I never hear a prayer that includes "Lord, we just.... we just..." I'll be grateful). It's too easy for public prayers to be insincere. And I think making prayer an institutional thing makes it impersonal and decreases the likelihood that people's hearts will be touched by God.
A time of prayer should be a time of honesty and vulnerability -- you're talking to God! And making it a daily recitation at school instead of a heartfelt communication makes it rote and not personal.
I despise the fact that this has become a political issue and that religious leaders and politicians use it to say that if you dont' support school prayer than you are a heathen, a heretic, a (gasp) godless liberal. They use faith and its practice as a battering ram, a political tool, and a source of judgment and condemnation. They're modern day pharisees, using their piety and religiosity to increase their power.
The truth is that prayer is not banned in schools. Children and teachers are free to pray to their hearts content and I'm sure that many of them pray daily in the halls of academia. What's not allowed is the imposition of prayer on the student body by a secular authority figure implicitly endorsing a specific kind of religious practice, even if they manage to avoid naming their God. That's the right balance and I'm glad for it.
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