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I think children should have the option of being able to pray in school (maybe as a moment of silence or something similar), but not forced or led, only because there are so many different faiths.

At the high school that I work for, we have have a Fellowship of Christian Students committe/club that meets after school and the same group has prayer at our school flag pole every Thursday morning before school starts. Any student that wants to can join, but its never forced. I'm not sure, but I would think that any other faith, if they asked to start a similar club, would not have a problem with administration.

When I was looking at Osceola's middle school website (just nosing around since that will be the middle school my son attends), they also had a similar type of club. So, there is "prayer" in school (seems to be middle and high), just not in the classroom.

just as a sidenote: My son (when he remembers, as he is only 8) still says grace when he has lunch - he says it quietly to himself. When he started kindergarten, he was surprised that the kids didn't say grace before eating. He had attended Angels in Arms for daycare and preschool and had always said grace, so he had still expected it. I told him that if he said it quietly to himself, that God would still hear him.

First of all this country does not have a sanctioned religion. It is based on Amendment One "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." and so on.

As long as a school is government funded and government run prayer cannot be sanctioned in a school Private Schools can do this simply because they are private institutions and do not adhere to public law in this case.

Further, prayer meaning what? A statanic hymn? If prayer is sanctioned by the state then it is allowed. How about the Wiccan religion? or perhaps Islamic Prayer?

Now, private prayer is allowed in schools. It is not a sanctioned idea.

The first amendment myth? How is:"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." a myth? Please explain that one.

School Prayer is not outlawed in schools. It is this that allows all of us to be free. If you want to amendment the first amendment and then pray in school start the process but then you are restricting the rights of an individual which is part of the reason people developed this country. By prayer you do mean Chrsitian or can a Satan worshipper or nature worshipper pray publiclly as well?

So know your amendments and rights before saying things that don't make sense.

Should I go on? There's a lot more. This is just the basics.

By all means writer, all that is a bunch of babble, didn't make sense to me. FYI, this is a discussion that is based on opinions in which EVERYONE is entitled, even you.

Churchu:
Opinions are informed positions based on facts.

I didn't realize that you were ignorant of the the 1st amendment and don't understand it. My apologizes. CFCC has wonderful government classes to help you out.

This entire post started out stating that prayer wasn't in schools. Prayer has never actually been outlawed in schools. Any individual should they wish can pray in a school. They have always had that right.

OUCH WRITER!!! no thanks in your offer about cfcc, if that's where you went. You really should reread what you wrote & how stupid you sound. I NEVER heard that about OPINIONS, but you sound like the expert here. YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY "opions are likes ........!!

by the way writer, you may want to look up the actual definition of "opinion" before you continue. Just an FYI for you.

Say what you will. You're still wrong. I'm not trying to change yours or anyone elses thoughts but stay informed of your rights and don't whine when you're called on it.

Check your constitution.

Wow Writer. Thanks for coming on here and being as rude and nasty to people as you possibly could be.

By prayer, I think ALL of us mean EVERYONE should be able to express whichever religious preferences they practice. As long as they are not interfering with schoolwork, or the rights of other students who do NOT wish to participate.

While I agree that this country was founded on christian values, the constitution protects each and every one of it's citizens from religious persecution, no matter what religion they practice.

Maybe if you had a little more tact, and didn't act like everyone here was so stupid, maybe your opinions would have been accepted a little more warmly.

Writert969,

When I posed the question of whether or not prayer should be allowed in schools I guess I made it too broad of a statement.

What I meant (and possibly didnt say perfectly) was should prayer be BACK in school like it was MANY MANY years ago. School began with a prayer. It obviously was a christian based prayer as that was the predominate faith.

I have no problem with people sharing differing opinions here. I just think in a public forum like this, if you are trying to educate others, it would be wise to say things a little less arrogantly. In saying "you are what is wrong with this country" and using the word "ignorant" in referring to another poster it just puts EVERYONE on the defensive. There are ways to educate people without tooting your own horn about how much YOU know and how little so many others do.

Good, people should pay attention to things like that.

Knowing the constitution is of vital importance in the world today.


Too many people sit around not paying attention...if it takes ruffling feathers to illicit a response fine.

Since when did disagreeing sharply with people become such an issue?

People butchered up the Anthony woman's parents without understanding the fundemental right that the Anthony woman wasn't even convicted of anything during the early parts of the protest: "innocent until proven guilty." The parent weren't even on trial and people were ready to string them up.
They tried them on the streets with little or no regard for their rights.

I'm thankful the police finally got the Anthony woman behind bars legally.

This is just an example.

The religion question is another example. I'm sorry I called people on it a little harshly but it's sometimes the only way people can be made to think.

When Trisha became our new Lead Moderator, she told us that she might be posting some controversial issues. Obviously, this is one of them.

Please remember that she asked us to post with respect for each other and tact even though we will not always agree with each other.

I hope I'm not over stepping my boundries by saying that if you want to continue posting on this site and for your posts to be seen by others please continue to post in a mature, respectful manner.

Sure none of this phases me. I just figure if people are gonna post they should be aware that maybe what they say is gonna get challenged. I'll be nicer about it but it doesn't mean I'm not going to disagree with them. Especially in this instance.

We are in agreement that to disagree with someone is okay right? I can more tactful.

Absolutely! Sounds perfect. We appreciate and value hearing all of our members' opinions.

I wasn't "zeroing in" on you writer. Just wanted to put that out there to remind everyone. I do appreciate the response, though.

Thank you Erin and you have NOT overstepped any bounds here whatsoever.

I have NO PROBLEM at all with people disagreeing with one another. As long as we can all speak respectfully and TACTFULLY then we all will get along just fine.

I have no probelm what-so-ever as well but moderator in the future is it okay if questions were worded in a manor that isn't blatently pushed towards one direction? Isn't being a moderator choosing topics without pushing one side or the other?

I think I'm going to go back to the big boys they just aren't quite as sensitive nor are they as ambigious with their questions.