Robert Berger
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2012
- Messages
- 80
Religious conservatives have had their panties in a bunch for decades over the fact that the
supreme court outlawed prayer in schools 50 years ago.
They make all sorts of idiotic claims about how morality has declined in America because of this, and drugs and sexual promiscuity are so common among kids because of this and how the quality
of education has declined drastically because of this, which is absolute hooey .
The very definite problems of our schools are due to entirely different reasons and too complex
to discuss here .
However, if the supreme court were to allow school prayer again, it would be opening up a can of worms,to say the least . America is now one of the most religiously diverse ocuntries in the world;
although the majority of Americans are Christian, at least nominally, there are now millions of
people who adhere to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Wicca, Baha'i and many other
lesser known faiths, as well as millions of atheists and agnostics .
Religious ocnservatives want CHRISTIAN prayer in schools, and many also want compulsory
Bible readings every school day . What about stuidents whose parents are not Christian?
Should their children have to be subject to CHRISTIAN prayer ? And Bible readings ?
If prayer is to be restored to our schools, shouldn't they also have Jewish,Muslim,Hindu and Buddhist prayer, or even daily affirmations of the non-existence of God for kids who are old enough to think for themselves and have decided that they are atheists ?
Remember- schools are places for TEACHING, not preaching . Kids from Christian homes can prayer all they want in church or at home .
In the past, when school prayer was the norm, it was not uncommon for kids who were from non-christian homes to be belittled and humiliated by teachers and other kids for not being Christian; there are plenty or horror stories about this.
And just a couple of years ago, some kids from an atheist family in one southern school district who declared themselves to be atheists were harassed viciously by teachers and other kids, and even their parents ! They were called horrible names and even threatened with physical violence ! If prayer is allowed again, you can be absolutely sure that incidents like this will start to become much more common , and it won't be pretty !
Whne I was growing up on Long Island and going to school in the 1960s, the lack of school prayer was not a problem in the least. Things were very different back then. We kids did not wear our religion on our sleeves, and really didn't care what religion other kids or our tewachers followed. We all just minded our own business . It was a live and let live world .
Why can't our schools be more like this today ?
supreme court outlawed prayer in schools 50 years ago.
They make all sorts of idiotic claims about how morality has declined in America because of this, and drugs and sexual promiscuity are so common among kids because of this and how the quality
of education has declined drastically because of this, which is absolute hooey .
The very definite problems of our schools are due to entirely different reasons and too complex
to discuss here .
However, if the supreme court were to allow school prayer again, it would be opening up a can of worms,to say the least . America is now one of the most religiously diverse ocuntries in the world;
although the majority of Americans are Christian, at least nominally, there are now millions of
people who adhere to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Wicca, Baha'i and many other
lesser known faiths, as well as millions of atheists and agnostics .
Religious ocnservatives want CHRISTIAN prayer in schools, and many also want compulsory
Bible readings every school day . What about stuidents whose parents are not Christian?
Should their children have to be subject to CHRISTIAN prayer ? And Bible readings ?
If prayer is to be restored to our schools, shouldn't they also have Jewish,Muslim,Hindu and Buddhist prayer, or even daily affirmations of the non-existence of God for kids who are old enough to think for themselves and have decided that they are atheists ?
Remember- schools are places for TEACHING, not preaching . Kids from Christian homes can prayer all they want in church or at home .
In the past, when school prayer was the norm, it was not uncommon for kids who were from non-christian homes to be belittled and humiliated by teachers and other kids for not being Christian; there are plenty or horror stories about this.
And just a couple of years ago, some kids from an atheist family in one southern school district who declared themselves to be atheists were harassed viciously by teachers and other kids, and even their parents ! They were called horrible names and even threatened with physical violence ! If prayer is allowed again, you can be absolutely sure that incidents like this will start to become much more common , and it won't be pretty !
Whne I was growing up on Long Island and going to school in the 1960s, the lack of school prayer was not a problem in the least. Things were very different back then. We kids did not wear our religion on our sleeves, and really didn't care what religion other kids or our tewachers followed. We all just minded our own business . It was a live and let live world .
Why can't our schools be more like this today ?