dyer@vaxuum.DEC (Where's the falafel?) (03/28/84)
| Silent Prayer in Schools is *Not* Illegal | .------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | The law states a little more than that. It is also illegal for you to si- | lently pray, if you do so in front of others. It is also illegal for the | school to set aside a little "quiet time" where you may pray if you like, | silently to yourself. It is also illegal for a group (2 or more people) to | get together by themselves on school property, and pray. `------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is dead wrong. The Supreme Court ruling on this says two things: (1) schools my not force a prayer on the students, and (2) organized religious activities are not to use school property. There is no law anywhere, nor is there a court ruling, that prohibits a student from silently praying. And if there were, it would be impossible to enforce. Many schools, the high schools I went to included, already practice a "quiet time" period; it's entirely legal. If a group wants to pray together *silently* on school property, who could stop them? I'm not quite sure if that's illegal or not; it's a question of whether or not school property is being used for religious activity. I would tend to think that a group of students praying silently toge- ther on school property would not be breaking the law; the Supreme Court ruling was strong (if not very clear) in its intent that the schools' resources not be used to impress a specific religious view on students. <_Jym_> | Jym Dyer | DEC Documentation Production Software | Nashua, New Hampshire | | ...{allegra|decvax}!decwrl!rhea!vaxuum!dyer |
seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (D.A. Seifert) (03/29/84)
> This is dead wrong. The Supreme Court ruling on this says two things: > (1) schools my not force a prayer on the students, and (2) organized > religious activities are not to use school property. Hmmm, what about those young churches that meet in school gyms until they raise enough money to build a church? Is this illegal? I presume they have permission from someone to do this, as schools are normally locked on weekends, they would need some way to get in. (a key?) -- _____ /_____\ I taught Walter Mitty everything he knows! /_______\ Snoopy |___| ____|___|_____ ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert