The Patriot Post® · Prayer in Public Schools
By Larry Craig
Two questions:
If the Constitution built a wall of separation between church and state such that the government cannot endorse or favor religion in any of its forms, how could the same Congress that wrote the First Amendment create an Office of the Chaplain paid for by taxpayer dollars and then have this chaplain open each day of Congress with prayer in the name of Jesus?
If it is constitutional for Congress to open the day with prayer, specifically Christian prayer, then why is it unconstitutional for schools to open the day with prayer?
The Supreme Court recently ruled on a case involving a public school coach praying on the football field after a game, with many of his players joining him. SCOTUS allowed him to do this, citing his First Amendment rights.
Others, citing that same First Amendment, thought the Court was wrong — something about a separation of church and state.
They note, as a Chicago newspaper noted, “60 years of precedent” that should have made it clear the unconstitutionality of prayer in public schools.
But they fail to note that there were 173 years of precedent, starting from the very beginning of our nation, where prayer in public schools was considered not only fitting and proper but necessary for the success of the educational enterprise. When the Court ruled to remove prayer from public schools, it wasn’t maintaining a separation of church and state; it was creating it. At least by the modern definition. That ruling had no precedent.
You have to assume that the people who wrote the First Amendment understood what they meant by it, and they still created the Office of the Chaplain at taxpayer expense and insisted that this person pray to start the day.
Since the Court removed prayer from our public schools, God was removed as well. Our children are receiving an education that essentially says that there is no God.
This is not a position of neutrality toward religion. Actually, that is impossible. There are not three options in the area of religion: pro, con, or neutral. There are only two: pro or con. Our Founders were pro. They realized that God created human beings equal, and He gave them unalienable rights. Without God, you don’t have equality and you don’t have unalienable rights.
If our country is founded on a belief in God, then it is not unconstitutional to acknowledge God in our public schools. You may say that some kids don’t believe this or are of other religions. OK. But this is why they have the rights they do in this country and why countries that don’t believe in God or that believe in other religions have less rights than we do here.
This is why the United States is unique. We need to teach this uniqueness and not pretend that we somehow have all kinds of rights for no apparent reason other than our Constitution. The Constitution didn’t give us these rights; it defined them.