Prayer and bible reading back in public school a mistake
Hardly a day goes by without seeing several posts on FACEBOOK advocating for a return of sanctioned prayer and Bible reading to the public schools. One post even suggested suing the school districts so that the issue might eventually come before the SCOTUS. Several of my friends have personally asked me to “like” or “share” or support the effort to have these reinstated. But I can’t do that.
I don’t agree with these posts, and so I ignore them. But recently one person chastised me in a private message with, “You claim to be a Baptist pastor, and I can’t believe you are against praying in school.” This was the end of the conversation before I could even respond. I was “unfriended” and apparently consigned to the isolation and the oblivion of cyberspace purgatory. For my remaining friends who still acknowledge my existence, let me explain the reason I can’t support such a proposal.
1. My opposition to the reinstating of prayer and Bible reading in public schools is not primarily due to the Supreme Court rulings such in Engle v. Vitale [1962], which prohibited any state-sanctioned prayer, or Abington Twp. School District v. Schempp [1963] which outlawed required Bible reading in public schools. These were shameful rulings, but they only reflected the reality of our culture. Prayer and Bible reading had departed our homes long before they were prohibited in the schools by the Courts. It is nothing more than pure hypocrisy to demand the teachers pray with our kids in school when parents neglect to pray with them at home.
2. Secondly, who is going to do the “praying” and “Bible reading” in the classroom? Will it be an aggressive non-Christian determined to convert their uninformed and willing pupils? Might it be an atheistic teacher reading a written prayer and who despises Christianity and mocks and ridicules the Christian’s beliefs and values at every opportunity in the classroom? Our kids see enough religious and moral hypocrisy already without reinforcing it in the school room.
3. Since any “prayer” of necessity will be non-sectarian, will it be offered in a Denominational rotation? And who will confirm that such prayer is compatible with the beliefs of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Wicca, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and so forth? All of these are recognized by the courts as real belief systems and must be given equal opportunity. Who will write such a prayer? And really now, what sort of “prayer” could that possibly be? I ask, are you sure you want our children subjected to that sort of confusion and all the false or demonic concepts of a “god?”
4. Fourthly, from which “Holy Book” will the daily readings be given? I am confident that they will not be from the old-time Authorized Version [King James Bible] which was used nearly universally in Public Schools before Abington Twp. v. Schempp. Shall the “Holy Book” weekly rotate from the Bible to the Qur’an, to the Torah, to the Book of Mormon, to the Tipitaka, or to the Rig Veda, and so forth?
5. Also, every court case in the last 40 years has ruled against any Christian concept, value, or official involvement in public education. Recently a Christian coach in a public school in Oregon was fired for voluntarily praying on the field after a football game. Yet some insist that sanctioned prayer will be welcomed if we just get enough names on a petition. Really? How can this happen when any mention of Christ and Christian values are dogmatically forbidden and deemed illegal in any context from the public school forum, think about it. What sort of “prayer” would this public prayer, possibly be?
6. Finally, regardless of the above, I wonder how can a formal and forced tribute to a divine being, given in any manner, either please God or encourage a child to trust in the true God? America has mostly rejected the God of our Fathers and has become a secular and moral wasteland. In Christianity, any “prayer” that is not “in Jesus’ name” is not Biblical “praying.” No heathenistic “vain repetition” will ever change that. It is without any spiritual power. Remember that distorted and false religion is far worse and more harmful than no faith at all.
We need to bring real prayer and reverence for God back into our homes, churches and individual lives before we concern ourselves with forcing a meaningless, empty, hypocritical, and distorted view of God upon our children. There is more than enough deception and confusion in our schools already.
William “Ed” Nicholson is a native of this area. He is pastor of the Grace Baptist Chapel at the village of Little Summit in Dunbar Twp. He has earned graduate degrees in both Bible and in Education Administration. He may be reached at Willnpa9@ Gmail.com or by phone at 724-626-1264