By Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
June 25, 2002

(AgapePress) - A conservative group has declared today a day of mourning for the demise of voluntary prayer in public schools.

It was 40 years ago today that the U.S. Supreme Court, on a 6-1 vote, banned voluntary school prayer. At the time, the high court's decision in Engel v. Vitale was billed as a landmark First Amendment case.

But the Texas Justice Foundation has another description. It says the ruling was an "exercise of raw judicial tyranny without precedent, one that produced a 40-year decline in the quality and safety of American schools."

In its statement calling for the day of mourning, the group also notes that "for the first time in American history, the will of the minority which opposed public prayer was imposed upon the majority." The Foundation says the result has been anarchy and chaos in the nation's public schools.

Cybercast News notes that the prayer that started the controversy read: Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our Country.

Even though public school students were not required to say the prayer, most did. That prompted several New York parents to file a lawsuit, which led to the Supreme Court declaration of the prayer being a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Some History
When the Supreme Court announced its decision on June 25, 1962, the lone dissenting vote in Engle v. Vitale had been cast by Associate Justice Potter Stewart. In his statement, he wrote that, in his opinion, the court had misapplied a great constitutional principle.

"I cannot see how an 'official religion' is established by letting those who want to say a prayer say it," Stewart wrote. "On the contrary, I think that to deny the wish of these school children to join in reciting this prayer is to deny them the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual heritage of our Nation."

Stewart noted that the history of religious traditions among Americans are reflected in numerous practices of the government's institutions and officials. The Supreme Court, he wrote, invoked the protection of God at the beginning of every session; both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives began every session with prayer; and every president up to that time had, during his inauguration, asked the protection and help of God.

Such practices, he wrote, do not violate the Constitution by establishing an "official religion" -- but instead, they allow Americans to recognize and follow "the deeply entrenched and highly cherished spiritual traditions of our Nation." According to Stewart, those traditions were passed down almost 200 years earlier from those who "avowed their 'firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence' when they proclaimed the freedom and independence of this brave new world."

ACLU Opposition
Today, one of the most ardent opponents of prayer -- or even a "moment of silence" -- in public schools is the American Civil Liberties Union. In fact, the ACLU has stated that opposition to school-sponsored prayer is one of its "bedrock principles." The organization's national board policy also states that any program of what it calls "religious indoctrination" violates the separation of church and state "and must be opposed."

Last year, for example, the ACLU called on a high school in Washington state to cancel its plans to include an invocation and benediction in its graduation ceremony. Doing so, the ACLU said, would "demonstrate respect and tolerance for the religious freedom of all students."

And last month, just five days before graduation ceremonies at Plainview High School in Colorado, the ACLU filed a lawsuit in an attempt to censor students from possibly offering a prayer during the event. The school’s long-held policy of permitting student messages at graduation, the ACLU contended, was merely an effort to smuggle prayer into the ceremonies.

A judge in Denver denied the ACLU's motion in the more recent case. Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney for the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy, represented the school district. Fahling said the judge's decision was “a clear statement by the court that the First Amendment is alive and well for students, at least in Colorado.”

The ACLU apparently sees no value in prayer at official school ceremonies or during the regular school year -- and the organization evidently believes most Americans agree.

"The mindless notion that serious social problems can be solved by prayer in schoolrooms, instead of by thoughtful analysis and sufficient resources, appeals to no one but the radical religious right," the ACLU states in its analysis of proposed constitutional amendments calling for school prayer or a moment of silence.

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