School Prayer-Unconstitutional Essays - Secularism, Prayer

School Prayer-Unconstitutional? School Prayer- Unconstitutional or the Way to Uplift Moral? The danger of school prayer becoming reinstated into the United States public schools is ever more increasing. Representative Ernest Istook and more than 100 House members have introduced the Religious Freedom Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The proposed constitutional amendment would permit school prayer and other religious expression on school property. The article 10 Reasons for Voluntary School Prayer by Norman L. Geisler argues to support this unconstitutional act of bringing religion within our public schools. Although Norman L. Geisler gives ten reasons for voluntary school prayer, for the purpose of the length required for this paper, I will only discuss three. Geislers reason number six for voluntary school prayer is not sound. When diagramming this argument (1), but this is not valid because the fact that school prayer was practiced for 200 years in this country does not make it valid by precedent. Slavery was also practiced in the Untied States for 200 years although it was an unconstitutional act. Just as slavery, prayer in public schools was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court when it was proven as such to the members of the Supreme Court. Just because a practice is followed for so many years does not deem it as correct or valid. Therefore (1). In Geislers seventh argument he states that the courts outlaw of prayer has a direct correlation with moral decline. Geislers argument can be proven invalid by examining it through the use of the method of difference. o,d,p,s,c,v,a -* M. Geisler does not show that these factors are a direct correlation to moral decline. He does not discuss what the cultural indexes were when prayer was in public schools. He also does not take all factors into account that might have caused an increase in these indexes during these years. A factor such as an increase in the violence on television could also be considered as a cause of moral decline. Therefore it cannot be concluded that the elimination of prayer in the public school system is the direct reason for a moral decline. Geislers ninth argument uses the terms secularism and human secularism interchangeably. He also offers a definition of human secularism and states that the governments policy of forbidding prayer could lead to the establishment of a religion of secularism. According to the American Heritage Dictionary the terms secularism and human secularism have two different definitions. It states secularism is The view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education and secular humanism is An outlook or a philosophy that advocates human rather than religious values. Therefore to use these terms interchangeably is incorrect. This makes Justice Potters statement (establishment of a religion of secularism), take on a whole new meaning. If secularism is simply a belief in the separation of religion and public education a religion of secularism is constitutionally correct. Geislers definition of human secularism violates the rules of definition. Geisler states s ecular humanism as the non-belief in God. This definition does not have a genus, it uses a negative term, and is too broad. This definition can also include Atheist who also do not believe in a higher power. I have first hand experience dealing with prayer in school. I went to parochial school for 13 years, 13 of which I was not a Catholic and 5 of which I was not a Christian. Although we were never forced to pray and Catholicism was not my familys religion, at a young age I said the Catholic prayers because I did not know the difference and simply followed what everyone else around me did. As I grew older and refused to pray, and I was asked to at least stand in respect of the others praying. For most of my education I was chastised for my beliefs. If school prayer is instituted in public schools this will cause an unneeded sense of division between those that believe in God and those that do not. Because the Untied States is predominately Christian the prayers will most likely reflect Christian values. This leaves others out that do believe in God but are not Christian, such as Jewish and Muslim