Sunday Thought, January 11, 2015: Prayer in School

I announced on Thursday that I had writer's block.  Actually, more specifically, I had Type I writer's block.  It wasn't that I couldn't write, I simply had no new ideas.  A good friend made the comment as to how hard it was to believe I was at a loss for words.  The words were plentiful; I simply had no subject matter.  Well, it wasn't long after posting a plea for help that I received inspiration from a new reader, and I thank Lori for her questions:  

1.  What are your thoughts on prayer in school?
2.  If you agree with it, do you agree with ALL prayer (Christian prayer, Muslim prayer, etc.) being allowed?   

I am a believer in the separation of church and state.  However, although the country was not specifically founded on Christian principles, many state and local governments incorporated much of their faith, Utah and Mormonism being an extreme example.  If this country was to be based on Christian laws and values in perpetuity, then it follows the founding fathers would have ensured language reflecting this was included clearly in our Constitution.  It was not.  They wanted this country to enjoy a broader spectrum of freedoms.  As intelligent and foresighted as the gentlemen were, however, they seem to have missed the possibility of a non-Christian faith taking precedence at some point in the future.  Or, maybe they considered it as an inevitable evolution, expecting the Constitution would stand up to the task.  Providing no President mucks with the basic tenets of the Constitution, this might be a valid premise.

Having said all of this, I think other than personal, quiet prayer in public schools is ill-advised due to the diversity of culture in our country.  We have already seen the issues involved with public prayer in the classroom.  A personal prayer at meal time, or as your culture demands, is not an issue for me if it does not interfere with school schedules and rules.  Muslims must pray five times per day.  The only time this affects class schedules would be during the noon prayer.  Public schools set aside one hour for the noon break, how the student chooses to use that break should be up to them, providing it is not disruptive or against school policy.

With our multicultural global society, it is incumbent on our education system to ensure all students are well versed in other cultural and religious beliefs, just as it was, in my day, to ensure we were versed in other country's forms of government.  I don't think it would be out of line to have a religious studies building with rooms available for prayer, when personal time permitted.

In Washington, a school was confronted with a Sikh student wearing a ceremonial dagger which denotes manhood in his culture.  A weapon on school grounds, however, this presents a possible, troubling, precedent.  Knowing the Sikh culture, one understands that to use this weapon would be a last resort next to death.  Their belief set prohibits such an act.  So, what do you do?  I would be more concerned of another student grabbing that dagger and using it against the wishes of the Sikh, than the Sikh ever using it.  Here, then is the dilemma of any weapon in the school.  By the way, the school system has allowed the wearing of the dagger.

Private schools present an entirely different environment.  Their rules are governed by the virtue that they are private and not government run.  Religious schools will, of course, have prayer often.  If you don't want your child in prayer, don't send them to a religious school.  Simple.  If the public school environment does not allow for your religious or cultural freedoms to disrupt their rules and schedules, find a private school that will accommodate you.  Simple.  Tolerance is not the same thing as acceptance.  We can tolerate religious and cultural activities if it is non-disruptive, we do not have to accept them if they are.  Accommodations should be made when possible.

To elaborate on classroom prayer just a bit, I would like to cite a few documents from the three Abrahamic religions.

When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."  And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.…

-- Matthew 6:5-6

The emphasis on congregational prayer began to grow but private prayer was never abolished. The heart and not the hour dictated the occasion for prayer. Day and night the Heavenly Father could be entreated (e.g., I Sam. 15:11; Ps. 86:3; 88:2[1])... Originally prayer was undoubtedly spontaneous and personal.

"and Isaac went out to su'ah in the field before evening..." (Genesis 24:63)  Based on this Genesis passage, the traditional afternoon prayer service - mincha - has been attributed to Isaac's early evening walks in the fields... The meaning of Su'ah, traditionally interpreted as prayer...

-- Jewish Virtual Library

"Call on your Lord humbly and secretly; surely He does not love those who exceed the limits"

-- Qur'an 7:55

We see with all three Abrahamic religions, the requirement or practice of private, personal prayer was always evident.  It would seem all three religious are violating the written word if this is, in fact, the case.  Even Islam reflects the Christian belief to pray in private, not unusual when you consider Muhammad's Christian and Jewish instructors as a young man, and the fact he received his Qur'an from the Angel Gabriel.

So my thoughts would be to not continue violating God's desire by having classroom, or public, prayer.  Personal prayer in private, at appropriate times, should be of no disruption unless someone is exercising some selfish personal agenda which would make them not only a hypocrite, but in all probability a heretic of their own religious tenets.

Note from Pastor Tony, the founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance, as well as the author and editor of "The Path," the Congregation's official blogsite:  

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion.  It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other.  An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth.  After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human.  God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.
  

Frank Anthony Villari, Pastor