Group Forums >> Christian Teachers >> Prayer in Schools
Prayer in Schools
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Posted about 1 year ago Do you think that teacher led prayer in public schools should be legal? Why or why not? |
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| Posted about 1 year ago I work in a school that prays all the time however we do not lead the students inti prayer unless the students ask and they do ask. |
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| Posted about 1 year ago Nope - what about the students who are of different religions or are agnostic or atheist? Having spent nineteen years living in a theocracy (Saudi Arabia), I'm a big proponent of having a separation between church (or mosque/temple/etc.) and state. If kids want to pray, what's wrong with doing so silently?
Matthew 6:5-6: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men....when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret...." |
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| Posted about 1 year ago absolutely not. Students may pray, but teachers have too much influence on students. If they happen to go the the same church, great, but there needs to be a separation. Students can learn religion at church, public school is not the place. privet school can (and will) do as they wish. |
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| Posted about 1 year ago When I was a little boy in elementary school, the principal used to start the assembly period by reading a section of the Bible and then explaining how it applied to us. I vividly recall one day when the principal, instead of reading the Bible, read a portion of a magazine article and explained how it applied to us. That happened when the Supreme Court eliminated prayer in schools. The principal adapted quickly and no one lost anything. If the Bible, or any other religious book, is needed to keep us on the moral course we're all in trouble. Prayer is wonderful. We have 24 hours in the day and that leaves us plenty of time for religion. School is NOT the place. |
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| Posted about 1 year ago No. Simply put- separation of church and state. |
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| Posted about 1 year ago Most of us have heard that when disasters strike schools, students and teachers huddle during the incident to pray. Should that also be banned? Why or why not? Is there a difference? What are the benefits of not permitting or permitting prayer in schools? |
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| Posted about 1 year ago Teachnologist says ...
I have no problem with spontaneous self-directed prayer in response to a catastrophe. There is a huge difference between that and organized, regularly-occuring, ritualistic prayer which has absolutely no place in public schools or other public institutions. I also do not have a problem with individual silent prayer occuring from time to time in a school or classroom as long as all the people not participating in the prayer can go about their normal business without interruption. I am not thrilled that the Pledge of Allegience mentions 'God' (a relatively recent change) but I have no problem with it as long as no one has a problem with my leaving mention of any deity out of my recitation. The problem with organized prayer in school is that it is coercive. When I was in elementary school there was mandated classroom prayer that was not in line with either of the religious traditions of my parents, but I was required to participate. My teacher, an otherwise gentle and supportive lady, would not allow me to stand silently. My sense, even as a second grader, was that this somehow diminished me and diminished religion (though I would not have used that language). I sensed that if you had to be forced to participate in a religion or religious act, then there was something missing from what, if the act were genuine, should be a sense of connection. "What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches." - Karl Menninger |
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| Posted about 1 year ago I agrre.... I think whatever religion the students have still they know the meaning of prayer.... It is a constant communication with HIM... cgempz |
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| Posted about 1 year ago Well here in the Philippines most school do always pray before and after class, even before meal(actually recess time), maybe because most Filipinos are Catholic and Christian and we are also known as God fearing. |
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| Posted about 1 year ago jyzferia21 says ...
And, of course, the laws in the Phillipines are different than they are in the USA. "What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches." - Karl Menninger |
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| Posted about 1 year ago Teachnologist says ...
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