Prayer puzzlement: After 50 years, some still misunderstand high court school prayer decision

September 7, 2012 | Filed under: Romney, Mitt,Ryan Paul,School Prayer,Views | Posted by:

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan attended a fund-raiser in Utah yesterday and was asked about school prayer. His reply was curious.

“That’s a constitutional issue of the states, moral responsibility of parents, education,” Ryan said.

Let’s dissect this a bit. First off, Ryan’s claim that school prayer is “a constitutional issue of the states” is inaccurate. State legislators can, of course, pass school prayer laws if they want, but it’s a waste of time. If a law mandates or compels young people to take part in prayer or religious worship, the courts will strike it down.

It’s not like this is some recent development. The first school prayer case to reach the Supreme Court, Engel v. Vitale, was decided in June of 1962 – 50 years ago. (Read more about the Engel case here.) The high court made it clear – and subsequent decisions have affirmed – that a religious majority cannot compel the minority to take part in worship activities.

So, this is not an issue of “state’s rights.” Ever since the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, states have had no power to infringe upon the liberties guaranteed us by the First Amendment.

Ryan goes on to imply that prayer is the “moral responsibility of parents.” Here I can agree with him – which is exactly why we no longer have government-sponsored prayer in public schools. It usurps parental rights.

The parents who brought the Engel case on Long Island, N.Y., were dismayed after the New York Board of Regents in 1955 composed and adopted a “regents’ prayer” and offered it to schools for daily recitation. The prayer was supposedly “non-sectarian” – although some religious people argued it was really theological pabulum.

In any case, many parents were adamant that it was no business of government bureaucrats to instruct children in when, how or whether to pray, so they filed suit. This seemed to be a profoundly conservative thing to do since it kept the intimate and personal decision about prayer where it belongs – at home with the family. It has always puzzled me why so many conservatives don’t support this ruling.

Ryan went on to opine that he believes school prayer could pass easily in Utah. He’s right about that, and most likely the prayer recited would reflect the majority faith of Mormonism. The faiths and philosophies of everyone else would be relegated to second-class status. Compulsion, not choice, would become the operating principle for religious liberty as a type of religious mob rule carried the day. And all of this would be imposed on children, some of whom would be too young to even figure out what was going on.

You can call that a lot of things. “Conservative” isn’t one of them.

Related articles:

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  2. Banner Banished: Court Strikes Down R.I. School Prayer Display
  3. Americans United urges appeals court to review decision allowing public school commencements in Wisconsin church
  4. Humanists Applaud Cranston School Banner Decision to Not Appeal Federal Court Ruling
  5. The Phelps Decision: Supreme Court Decision Undercuts Religious Right Lie

5 Responses to Prayer puzzlement: After 50 years, some still misunderstand high court school prayer decision

  1. avatar Charles September 8, 2012 - 2:01 pm

    Of course, any educated conservative would agree with this ruling in principle, but it’s just too tempting to use as a talking point. They understand that many of their religious constituents are too ignorant to understand how this ruling actually protects their religious freedom, so it has always been a part of the old reliable Republican talking point toolkit to rile up their less educated constituents and get them into the voting booths in hopes that someday (with some help from the Religious Right) little Jimmy will be allowed to say a prayer in school without being imprisoned for the offense.

    Reply
  2. avatar JamesK September 8, 2012 - 4:43 pm

    I can’t find it at the moment but sometime in the last couple days someone put out a sort of test to take to determine whether or not one is being discriminated against based on religion…

    Reply
  3. avatar JamesK September 8, 2012 - 4:46 pm

    Ah, I found it. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-emily-c-heath/how-to-determine-if-your-religious-liberty-is-being-threatened-in-10-questions_b_1845413.html share this story 7,797 510 133 Submit this story It seems like this election season “religious liberty” is a hot topic. Rumors of its demise are all around, as are politicians who want to make sure that you know they will never do anything to intrude upon it. I’m a religious person with a lifelong passion for civil rights, so this is of great interest to me. So much so, that I believe we all need to determine whether our religious liberties are indeed at risk. So, as a public service, I’ve come up with this little quiz. I call it “How to Determine if Your Religious Liberty Is Being Threatened in Just 10 Quick Questions.” Just pick “A” or “B” for each question. 1. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) I am not allowed to go to a religious service of my own choosing. B) Others are allowed to go to religious services of their own choosing. 2. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) I am not allowed to marry the person I love legally, even though my religious community blesses my marriage. B) Some states refuse to enforce my own particular religious beliefs on marriage on those two guys in line down at the courthouse. 3. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) I am being forced to use birth control. B) I am unable to force others to not use birth control. 4. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) I am not allowed to pray privately. B) I am not allowed to force others to pray the prayers of my faith publicly. 5. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) Being a member of my faith means that I can be bullied without legal recourse. B) I am no longer allowed to use my faith to bully gay kids with impunity. 6. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) I am not allowed to purchase, read or possess religious books or material. B) Others are allowed to have access books, movies and websites that I do not like. 7. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) My religious group is not allowed equal protection under the establishment clause. B) My religious group is not allowed to use public funds, buildings and resources as we would like, for whatever purposes we might like. 8. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) Another religious group has been declared the official faith of my country. B) My own religious group is not given status as the official faith of my country. 9. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) My religious community is not allowed to build a house of worship in my community. B) A religious community I do not like wants to build a house of worship in my community. 10. My religious liberty is at risk because: A) I am not allowed to teach my children the creation stories of our faith at home. B) Public school science classes are teaching science. Scoring key: If you answered “A” to any question, then perhaps your religious liberty is indeed at stake. You and your faith group have every right to now advocate for equal protection under the law. But just remember this one little, constitutional, concept: this means you can fight for your equality — not your superiority. If you answered “B” to any question, then not only is your religious liberty not at stake, but there is a strong chance that you are oppressing the religious liberties of others. This is the point where I would invite you to refer back to the tenets of your faith, especially the ones about your neighbors.

    Reply
  4. avatar ORAXX September 9, 2012 - 6:47 am

    People who would insert religion into government and public schools should visualize the religion they hate the most, being able to make decisions governing the way they live their lives. How many school prayer advocates would be in favor of their children reciting Islamic prayer?

    Reply

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