Controversy: The Role Of Prayer In Public Schools

Great Essays
In 1963, a court case changed the role of the public school and it’s affects on the Constitutional rights of students. Prayer in public schools is an extremely controversial subject ever since Engel v. Vitale that decided that no establishment of public education could instruct, guide, or encourage any religion. The controversy mainly lies between the question of Constitutionality regarding the rights of citizens to practice religion how they wish, or to do the opposite. Other aspects of the debate include the intrusion of the government in regulating any form of regulation in violation of these previously mentioned Constitutional rights. Student prayer should only be permissible within the public school setting under the pretenses that it is entirely voluntary and student initiated. Prayer in public schools that does not follow these guidelines is violating the constitutional rights of students, is against the separation of church and …show more content…
As written in the U.S. Constitution, every American citizen has the right to freedom of religion. With this being said, the government is not to regulate what religion a person does or does not practice. For any sector of public education to promote religion or student involvement with religion infringes on that first amendment right. According to Lemon v. Kutzman, government entities only serve constitutional when their actions serve a non-religious purpose or do not promote or favor any set of religious beliefs(aclu). This proves that anything concerning religion that is demonstrated by a public school is deemed unconstitutional because public schools are run by the government. In regards to the 1992 Supreme Court case

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Two prominent landmark cases that can be taken into consideration are namely Engel v. Vitale 370 U.S. 421 (1962) and Lemon v. Kurtzman 403 U.S. 602 (1971). The first case, Engel v. Vitale is a case wherein a group of families in New York complained that the voluntary prayer in the mornings violated their religious beliefs. The court ruled through a 6-1 vote that it is unconstitutional for state to compose a prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools as it violated the Establishment Clause. Interestingly the court rejected the defendants even though the prayer was voluntary and did not subscribe to any specific religion. They found that the mere introduction of religion through prayer was sufficient to establish…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this essay, the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments of these two articles are going to be discussed. In general, the argument that is against having prayer in schools has a stronger argument. The author who is for having prayers in schools tries to prove the sanity of his opinion by talking about the history of the U.S. which is a good method as we have to consider the values of this country that has been passed on and on to the next generations since those values are a part of its culture. In fact, without considering the background of the country, our…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Unfair Engel v. Vitale Court Case Many court cases are viewed unfair by the public, and seem to violate the U.S. Constitution’s first amendment. A particular trial aroused my attention as well. I disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision in the Engel v. Vitale trial that declared it unconstitutional to openly lead prayer in public schools.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Today, one area of concern for the public involves the issue of prayer in schools around the nation. Now, there are some who feel that prayer should not be allowed in schools; alternatively, many others contend that prayer should be allowed in schools. While this complex issue, upon delving into the subject further, it becomes apparent that prayer should not be prohibited in schools, because it supports the freedom of religion principle, acknowledges religious heritages, and offers many social benefits. When examining any issue, it is critically imperative to analyze it from all aspects; one must be certain to acknowledge the advantages of prayer in school and why it would be beneficial to include it in schools worldwide. Numerous school cases…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Missouri Public Prayer Amendment was put on the ballet on August 7, 2012. This amendment is supposed to “guarantee state residents of Missouri the right to express religious beliefs and also would allow students in public schools to pray and acknowledge their religion voluntarily”. Supporters say that this amendment will protect their rights to practice their own beliefs, while Opposers say that this amendment was not necessary because constitution already states that anyone can practice their religion in the state already. The Opposers went even further to say that this amendment will be only a temporary measure but soon enough cause problems in the future. The Opposers reasoning supports Madison’s argument about how the majority will…

    • 199 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Religion In Schools

    • 1104 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It is a continually argued topic on whether implementing religion is within bounds of the Constitution. Many parents of a students, even teachers go head to head over this issue. A school…

    • 1104 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Vitale was correct. Although this case was the springboard for many of the more radical ideas of the likes of Madlyn Murray O’Hare, this case did uphold the ideas and beliefs of America’s Founding Fathers. Many have made the dispute over school prayer out to be a point of division in our nation. Yet the majority believes religion should be a part of our school systems. According to an article by John C. Green and James L. Guth, a “1983 Gallup poll found 81% of the “aware” public favoring a constitutional amendment allowing voluntary school prayer” (Green and Guth 41-42).…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Prayer In Public Schools

    • 1608 Words
    • 7 Pages

    After that 11 other states adopted the same requirement as Massachusetts (“Prayer and the Public Schools: Religion, Education, and Your Rights”). But ended after only 49 years after it started after the ruling of Engle v. Vitale case in 1962 (“Prayer and the Public Schools: Religion, Education, and Your Rights”). The Engle v. Vitale case was brought up because two parents from New York fought a battle against the New York education board over a prayer that the board had written. The parents of these children were Jewish, Christian, and Unitarian. The court agreed with the parents and made it a law that religion wouldn’t be in schools (“Prayer and the Public Schools: Religion, Education, and Your Rights”).…

    • 1608 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to the First Amendment and Religion, protects and individual the freedom of the press, to choose and practice their religion, freedom of speech, and freedom to assemble peacefully(Hall, D. 2015). However, the Compulsory Education laws state that "all children in the age group of six to sixteen are required by the state law to attend a public or accredited state school(Compulsory Education Law. 2017). Therefore, the right to freely exercise their religion and to teach their children about a chose religious is valid. For instance, the First Amendment state that "Congress shall not disrespect the establishment of a religion or hinder anyone from the right to exercise their religious. But the Supreme Court can intervene some religion…

    • 202 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The case I want to talk about is Engel v. Vitale. It was composed in 1962 and was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that ruled students who are praying in class violated the First Amendment's Clause and public school had to compose official prayers and encourage students to say them. However, the ruling was a bad idea because it eliminated people's relief in their religion. The case was opened by a group of public school students in New Hyde Park, New York, who disagreed that the voluntary prayer written to "Almighty God" contradicted their religious beliefs; on the other hand,the First Amendment said “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” to keep the federal government out from establishing a national…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Justification It’s been over 50 years since the Supreme Court ruled in outlawing school sponsored prayer. When it comes to religion, public schools have to abide to two legal…

    • 1252 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout this semester, we have viewed many different perspectives and recognized the converse among many topics associated with the government’s decision making. Looking into different perspectives and views that our society holds, opens our eyes to discover the truth and we can examine the reasoning behind why policies were created and how our government is shaped. One major controversy that we have discussed as a class is who should help the poor. All throughout history there has been debate on whether everyone is responsible for the common good or families and private charities are responsible. This debate is between the institutional perspective as well as the residual perspective.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The first legal case making the argument against school prayer was first brought to court by Everson v. Board of Education. This seminal case barred the allocation of tax money to the funding of the transit of the Catholic School children. The landmark decision in Engel v. Vitale was the legal trial concluding the school-sponsored nondenominational prayer occurring in the New York public school system. It was ruled unconstitutional because any “public promotion of religion, including giving financial aid to religious schools” violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (US Courts). Practicing prayer individually is still permitted in public schools.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Prayer In Public Schools

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Should you be able to show what you believe in at school, The first Amendment to the U.S constitution says “religion clause”- to create rules about how faith and the government interact. On clause gives citizens the right to freely exercise religious statements ; the other prohibits government (including taxpayer - funded public schools) form establishing religion. Senator philip hart quotes “ I'm a Catholic and I hope a devout one, but I think that the public school classroom is no place for me to try and impose my world formula for prayer on children who don't share it, and for that very reason, I don't want my children in a public school classroom to be exposed to someone else's religion or formula. " students of any culture should be allowed to prey when they need to if a…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over the years, there has been a major conversational issue in the United States today about whether prayer should or should not be allowed in public schools. Prayer has already been banned in various numbers of public schools across the country. Many people have different religious views on this issue, but someone else’s religious view should not determine what someone else can do. The First Amendment states “freedom of religion”, so why can children not have this right in public school? There are plenty of different religions.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays