Religion and Prayer Must Not be Permitted in Public School Essay

Early American colonists anticipated a country dear of freedoms and opportunities. As the new government was beginning to develop, the Founders took into consideration the restrictions placed on them and their fellow immigrants in their former home lands. One difficulty the colonists encountered punt in Europe was the inability to practice a desired holiness or not to practice one at whole. Since the newly organize country was made up of people from more than one spiritual background, the government had to come up with a way to accommodate all of its citizens. Understanding the countrys diversity, the writers of the writing of the United States of America included in the rootage Amendment the words, Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise therof . . . (Alley, 24). The two parts of the religious freedom contract became known as the Free Exercise Clause, which allows for religious expression, and the or ganic law Clause, which protects citizens from state-imposed religion. To learn that the government could not interfere with religious establishments, the American government mandated a more precise interpretation of the religious clauses, which commonly became known as secularism, or complete separation of the church and the government. Secularism is the foundation underlying the get along of the role of prayer in the commonplace school system. Due to the Establishment Clause, which protects Americans from state imposed religion the role of prayer in the public schools is considered unco nstitutional. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor professed, In my view, however, the convention underlying the Establishment Clause is that go... ...Buffalo, New York Prometheus Books, 1994. Barker, Dan. The Case Against School Prayer. lucre Infidels. Online. Internet. 21 October 2002. Available http//www.infidels.org/org/ffrf/issues/pray.html Farmer, Rod. The School Prayer Issue. Education 104 (1984) 248-49. Gaffney, Edward McGlynn. A church building in Texas. Commonweal 124 (April 25, 1997) 9-10. OConnor, Sandra. Forward the Establishment Clause and Endorsement of Religion. diary of Law and Religion 8 (1990) 1-4. Sikorski, Robert. Prayer in public Schools and the Constitution 1961-1992. New York Garland Publishing Inc., 1993. Thomas, Oliver. Prayer and Speech. Finding Common foothold 12 (1996) 29 pars. Online. Internetr. 1 October 2002. Whitehead, John W. The Rights of Religious Persons in Public Education. Wheaton, Illinois Crossway Books, 1994 33,49-50.