Debates discussion

Should Christian prayer be allowed in schools (public schools)?

Yes. Muslim girls wear hijabs, Christians should be allowed to pray.

Was/is there some sort of rule saying you can't?

Concinnous wrote: "Yes. Muslim girls wear hijabs, Christians should be allowed to pray."

That's different. That's more like banning christians from wearing a cross, not praying.

Carsie Rose wrote: "If we live in a country of free speech and freedom of religion, then we obviously should be allowed to pray in schools. I don't get why they wouldn't. I know there have been laws passed, and it's c..."

I agree, in the U.S, we have many freedoms, and being allowed to pray falls under the category of freedom of Religion, I find no valid reason why anyone can stop you from praying.

Isabelle wrote: "Was/is there some sort of rule saying you can't?"

It was banned in some schools. Kids weren't allowed to have a Bible study during recess either.

In some really bad cases, Bibles were banned too.

i don't get why We have freedom of religion and freedom of speech and yet people ban prayer from schools, and shut down christian things. ya know?

Kara wrote: "i don't get why We have freedom of religion and freedom of speech and yet people ban prayer from schools, and shut down christian things. ya know?"

Yeah, I don't think that banning it is legal, yet it still happens, and no one says anything about it!

yea!!

Kara wrote: "i don't get why We have freedom of religion and freedom of speech and yet people ban prayer from schools, and shut down christian things. ya know?"

well it is because Communists think freedom of religion is freedom from religion.

So instances of banning Christian iconography includes: players praying before a big game with their coach. Removing under god from the pledge of allegiance. Banning positive talk of bible by faculty.

This is done because it is viewed as unfair to people of different religions or no religion. Communists don't want to hear about God. So I guess the equivalent question is should it be legal for Muslims to bring prayer mats to school and pray during certain times of the day?

In kindergarten my teacher said we weren't allowed to talk about god among our christian friends or others.

make praying back to school good again

Did you guys know that under U.S. law, if a public school allows secular clubs, they must also treat religious clubs and requests to form religious clubs the exact same way as they treat other clubs? Same with sponsorships and such. :)

That's good. It should be that way, and if it's not that's very unfair.

Kendra (aka Fortissimo) wrote: "That's good. It should be that way, and if it's not that's very unfair."

Yep!

Just want to inform y'all on your rights lol.

Also, you're absolutely allowed under federal law to read religious texts in school, complete projects, assignments, presentations, etc. on religious subjects (as long as it's appropriate).

You're also allowed to share about your religion, hand out religious texts, etc. as long you're not disturbing classes (so it's okay before classes, after classes, during lunch breaks, etc.).

Colleges are more likely to challenge this than high schools are, but if they do, organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom can represent you without any cost to you in an actual court case against the school for violating religious freedom.

Lilyyy wrote: "Also, you're absolutely allowed under federal law to read religious texts in school, complete projects, assignments, presentations, etc. on religious subjects (as long as it's appropriate).

You're..."

Yeah I was about to say there are no rules against bringing/reading religious texts or praying lmao im not sure where that was coming from.

Why not?

what are you asking Maryam?

"Should prayer be allowed in schools?"
I ask, 'why not?'

For me, as a Muslim, praying is important. Muslims have to pray five times a day. So, wherever we are, we have to pray. I go to a Muslim school that allows me to pray. So I am glad about that.

Praying is personal. It does not affect others. So there shouldn't be any problem at all with allowing it.

So I can’t really explain it but real quick I know something that people have been up in arms about is when sports coaches pray over their players. Some people consider that offensive.

Maryam wrote: "For me, as a Muslim, praying is important. Muslims have to pray five times a day. So, wherever we are, we have to pray. I go to a Muslim school that allows me to pray. So I am glad about that.

Pr..."
They mainly want to crack down on public prayer. Or mention of God because that is not inclusive.

So the equivalent would be if teachers told Muslims they can't pray in front of students but they can do it in a hidden area. Stuff kinda like that.

Okay, over here, it's different. Government-funded schools allow praying. When the British ruled, they opened schools here, but they used it as a tool to convert students into Christians. So, other religious people avoided sending their kids to those schools. Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims started to open their schools. So after the independence, all these schools were funded by the governments. To this day, everyone can send their children to the school which represents their religion. So, here, religion in school is not a problem. Religion was what started schools. So every school begins their day with prayer.

What do you mean by a hidden area? The whole school is an open area after all. Would it mean it is not okay even if somebody noticed others praying?

Austin wrote: "So I can’t really explain it but real quick I know something that people have been up in arms about is when sports coaches pray over their players. Some people consider that offensive."

I didn't really get what you mean by 'sports coaches pray over their payers.'

Haha thanks for telling us that India has already found the solution haha

Austin wrote: "Haha thanks for telling us that India has already found the solution haha"

Thanks for assuming the wrong thing. I am not an Indian.

Oh which country are you from?

Sorry I must have gotten you confused with another user.

Maryam wrote: "Austin wrote: "So I can’t really explain it but real quick I know something that people have been up in arms about is when sports coaches pray over their players. Some people consider that offensiv..."

In the US, some people have taken a disproportionate amount of offense over high school and college football teams (and sometimes other sports teams) praying before games.

Austin wrote: "Oh which country are you from?"

Sri Lanka

Every school I've gone to allowed prayer despite the religion. Freedom of religion is a thing so why can't there be some time set aside 5 minutes?

Because not everyone is religious and you can do that at home.

I’m not American so I have no idea about your constitutional rights. But why can’t you just do it at home or on breaks like lunch?

Why don’t they do it in private?

Abby wrote: "Why don’t they do it in private?"

Is it really that offensive that non-religious people can't stand the sight of religious people praying? 😬

It’s not offensive to pray in public but it is something you could do in private.

Abby wrote: "It’s not offensive to pray in public but it is something you could do in private."

For sure! But I don't see why it needs to be done in private? I mean, I'd certainly hope people who are praying in public are also praying in private, but freedom of religion is literally one of the most important founding principles of America.

Abby wrote: "It’s not offensive to pray in public but it is something you could do in private."

Yeah, but what's wrong with praying in public? For example, we Muslims have to pray at certain times of the day, so sometimes we might have to pray in a public space if it's prayer time. So what should we do?

Yes, and for Christians who thank God and ask for His blessing before a meal... Whatever would they do in a restaurant if public prayer is discouraged?

You can pray in public but other people shouldn’t have to wait for you to do it so they can start their day.

Yeah, I could agree with that.

Abby wrote: "You can pray in public but other people shouldn’t have to wait for you to do it so they can start their day."

of course not.

Abby wrote: "Because not everyone is religious and you can do that at home."

I don't see how that affects the other students? The religious students can just get 5 minutes to leave the classroom and pray while the non-religious kids can remain in class. Our teachers just let students leave during prayer time and come right back in to join everyone else. Not that big of a deal.

Abby wrote: "You can pray in public but other people shouldn’t have to wait for you to do it so they can start their day."

What I meant was setting aside time for the students to leave the classroom while everyone else stays behind which is what all my schools did. Sorry for paraphrasing that wrong. It would be very inconvenient that way.

When I lived down in the Bible Belt, we always have a minute of silence each morning. I was a little kid then, so I thought it was time for, like, a short nap or something. In truth, I think it was a moment to honor veterans and servicemen and also for students to pray if they wanted to. It wasn't required, and I never felt uncomfortable or pressured to pray. Just thought I'd share.

I’m not Christian but I do think people should be allowed to have bible studies and stuff. Sorry I honestly don’t know much of this stuff. But in my school we’re allowed to part by the flag some mornings.

You should be able to carry out everything your religion practices in school. There's no reason why you shouldn't. My school wasn't a religious school, but we had this one little boy who was Muslim I think. Every day at the same time he would pray. A teacher would take him out if assembly and class every day at the same time to allow him to do this. There's no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to

The issue is more nuanced. There is a difference between organized activity in support of prayer VS accommodations to allow persons of any faith the opportunity to briefly adhere to the tenets of that faith (exp a room for a muslim student to roll out his or her prayer rug for the ritual prayers; a set aside time for protestants to conduct personal prayers, and equal opportunity for an atheist to meditate on their anti-divinity beliefs if they show choose, etc)

Nowadays, so many seek to be offended and/or enforce their views on others that schools must be cautious how the opportunities above are uniformly offered to all. Most of the time when MSM exploits a story and one digs a little deeper, its when there has been potential for undue influences from people in positionally authoritative roles, sometimes without realizing it, develops a situation where someone feels pressured to join or be ostracized. case in point was the HS football team (TX I think) that had the coach leading a tradition of a prayer circle on the field before games.

Coach had positional authority, some that would have otherwise stood silently and not joined in felt pressure given the circle was so public. Far different than a pre-game prayer in the locker room where the team is reinforced with a moment of mindfulness, be it through participating in a prayer or using the moment for silent reflection if that is the players choice. The latter example never becomes a blown out of proportion issue in part because of the setting VS the first example.