For more than 40 years, a host of irresponsible and self-serving religious and political leaders, abetted by sloppy reporting by the news media, have convinced many Americans that the Supreme Court won’t let Johnny pray in the “godless public schools.”
Nonsense. The Court has never outlawed prayer or banned religion from public schools. Students always have been and are today free to pray in public schools alone or in groups, as long as their prayers don’t disrupt the school or interfere with the rights of others.
There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution that keeps Johnny from saying grace at lunch, asking for divine help before the math quiz, forming a prayer club, or gathering around the flagpole to pray with classmates.
You wouldn’t know this, by the way, from reading some of the local newspapers. Articles described this as “an order against any prayer or promotion of religion in schools.” No mention was made of the myriad ways students are free to pray and share their faith while in school.
Here’s the truth about God in public schools: There is more student religious expression in public schools today than at any time in the past one hundred years. Students are forming hundreds of religious clubs (mostly Christian), handing out religious literature, praying with their friends, speaking up about their beliefs in class, and in many other ways expressing their faith during the school day. So much for the godless public school.
