Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Wicked
That is my point. Most times the people are not being forced, but just witnessing someone praying. Unfortunately in the public school I went to, if you did not pray, you were ridiculed, embarrassed, and made to feel like an evil person if you did not pray. It was the teachers and administration doing this. I myself didn't have a problem with praying, and I used to laugh at those who went through this. I look back now and it is a regret I have from my youth.
Just to be clear, I do not believe this is the norm. This is an isolated incident, but it only takes isolated incidents for knee jerk reactions to take place where everything is banned to silence a squeaky wheel.
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I remember being in elementary school reciting the pledge of allegiance every day, but by the time I was a senior in high school (in 1982), the students in my homeroom would only bother to stand up for the pledge. If you actually put your hand on your heart or said the words the other kids would look at you like you were from another planet. Peer pressure!
The only way that I think prayer would be fair in schools would be to vary the religion used every day. That way the kids can be exposed to various cultures, listen to and optionally join in prayer from various dominations of Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Paganism, Ancient Greek Gods, Ancient Egyptian Gods, Hindu, Islam, Satan Worship, Heaven's Gate Suicide Cult, Agnosticism, Atheism, the Force from Star Wars, etc. I think I would actually be OK with that. I bet a lot of the people who want prayer back in school would be completely against the idea of making pray fair to all students in a way that students would not be ridiculed or embarrassed by their religion or lack of one.
I think Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech are compatible. I don't think the government should be paying to build Churches, Temples or other religious buildings. If you want to build a Church, Temple, Mosque or whatever on say a college campus, get organized with others in your own religion and raise the money through your religion. We don't need the government to pay for houses of worship.
If you want your family praying, do whatever works with your religion. You can take them to church, temple or whatever on the appropriate day of the week. Get them involved with some sort of religious group through your house of worship. Say grace at meals and say daily prayers. Read to your family from whatever religious text applies in your case. Take your kids to Sunday school. Join a Bible study group. Go on a religious retreat. There is plenty of opportunity to do all this without trying to get the government or it's public schools to endorse your personal choice of religion. You don't need to fall back on your laziness of exposing your kids to religion by expecting public schools to do it for you. And if you really need your kids exposed to your brand of religion in school, there are perfectly good private religious schools that can do that for you.
Nobody is attacking freedom of religion or your freedom of speech when the government does not fund or endorse your religion. Actually having the government not endorse or fund your religion seems to be exactly what it should be doing to ensure that we have these freedoms.
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