Current Controversies:
In Politics
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The Schempp case was decided in 1963, but today the conflict over religion in the public schools continues unabated. Returning devotional exercises to the public schools is a major goal of the religious right and well as many conservative politicians. Here is a sampling of what's being said in the public arena.
Constitutional Amendment
A constitutional amendment to
return prayer to the public schools has been a regular agenda item
before Congress since the mid-60s. Once again a proposed amendment is
before Congress. A report from the First Amendment Center.
Religious Right
Religious right organizations still list school prayer as a top priority for political/legal action.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, on the banning of school prayer and other religious practices (April 12, 2005): "Whether it was the legalization of abortion, the banning of school prayer, the expulsion of the 10 Commandments from public spaces, or the starvation of Terri Schiavo, decisions by the courts have not only changed our nation's course, but even led to the taking of human lives. As the liberal, anti-Christian dogma of the left has been repudiated in almost every recent election, the courts have become the last great bastion for liberalism."
The American Center for Law and Justice litigates cases on behalf of religious conservative groups. It policy statement includes: "The ACLJ opposes the relentless efforts by the ACLU and other liberal advocacy groups to remove prayer from the public arena in the name of the Establishment Clause. This Nation's founding fathers never contemplated a society in which any public prayer was viewed as anathema under the Constitution."
Linking Virginia Tech Shootings to Absence of School Prayer
After the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, Virginia Armstrong, national chairman of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum Court Watch, linked the shootings to the prohibition on organized devotional exercises in the public schools. "Activist/liberal federal judges have long been fighting to expunge
every vestige of God from our nation's classrooms and public life. Why,
therefore, shouldn't our youths assume that there is ultimately no One
to whom they are accountable, freeing them to behave as they choose. Activist/liberal federal judges have long been upholding the
exclusive teaching of evolutionism to our youths—that all of us are
simply higher forms of animals who have evolved from lower forms. Why,
therefore, shouldn't our youths behave like animals?"
Reaction of the religious right was similar in 1999, following the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. In an ad, the Christian Coalition argued in favor of religion in the public schools. "As America
struggles to understand the terrible tragedy of Littleton, we urge all
candidates for office, regardless of party, to pledge their support for
putting God back in our schools, and parents back in our homes."
Republican Party Platform
The 2004 Republican Party platform calls for the return of prayer to the public schools. "We will continue to work for the return of voluntary school prayer to our schools and will strongly enforce the Republican legislation that guarantees equal access to school facilities by student religious groups. We strongly support voluntary student-initiated prayer in school without governmental interference. We strongly disagree with the Supreme Court's rulings against student-initiated prayer."
The Republican Party of Iowa State Platform supports school prayer, displays of the Ten Commandments, the teaching of creationism and intelligent design, and the use of the Bible as a textbook:
"3.2 We believe the displaying of the Ten Commandments, the American Flag and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance should be allowed.
3.3 We support voluntary teacher or student led prayer in government schools. The use of the Bible as a textbook should be allowed as a local option.
3.4 We support the teaching of alternative theories on the origins of life including Darwinian Evolution, Creation Science or Intelligent Design, and that each should be given equal weight in presentation."
Presidential Campaign
Rudolph Guiliani, speaking on August 15 in Des Moines, voiced support for prayer at school graduation ceremonies. The Des Moines Register reported a comment that Giuliani made on the campaign trail. Guiliani said that he had made many commencement speeches, evidently referring to both high school and college graduations. He said: "In most of them there's a prayer—usually a minister or a priest or a rabbi, or sometimes a professor gets up and says a prayer at the beginning of it. So I wouldn't think that's prohibited." In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lee v. Weisman (1991) that prayers at commencement are a violation of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
Newt Gingrich, the Republican former U.S. House Speaker, attacked "the growing culture of radical secularism" in this country and targeted the removal of religious exercises from the public schools for special criticism. On May 19, 2007, he gave a commencement speech at Liberty University. "A growing culture of radical secularism declares that the nation cannot profess the truths on which it was founded," Gingrich said. "We are told that our public schools can no longer invoke the creator, nor proclaim the natural law nor profess the God-given quality of human rights."
Senator Barack Obama addressed the issue of religious teachings in the public schools in June 2007 at the United Church of Christ in Hartford, CT. His speech was widely circulated and commented upon. He criticized the actions of Christian conservatives. "Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart." He added: "At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their Church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage, school prayer and intelligent design."
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