Essays - School Prayer

"Congress intended to guarantee religious freedom with the First Amendment, not stifle public prayer and religious expression."- Ted Gausmann, a writer for a conservative politics website, who obviously thinks that religion should be a public event rather than a private matter.

"Under the Gingrich amendment, public officials would be authorized to indoctrinate impressionable young people into an officially endorsed religion. What is tyranny, if not that? Children, who are required to attend school by law, should not be placed in the position of having to choose between pressures from their teachers and peers and their parents' instructions on religious practice. Where official school prayer has been permitted, the result has not been pretty: Documentation is abundant of non-conforming students being called "little atheists" by their teachers, being beaten up or subjected to taunts and classroom jokes."- the ACLU's statement on a Newt Gingrish proposal to introduce school prayer.

Background

The school prayer issue is a classic example of the problem with American politics. On one side, you have the religious right. They see laws prohibiting school prayer as unreasonable restrictions upon their freedom of religious expression. They point out that the precise phrase "separation of church and state" is not in the Constitution (although they ignore the fact that the concept is there, albeit in different words, and that Thomas Jefferson himself clearly stated that the intent was indeed "separation of church and state"). They argue that it is a form of religious oppression for the state to keep students from freely expressing their religious beliefs in publicly funded schools (if only there were a place these "oppressed" Christians could go to freely express themselves; a place with wooden pews, which we might call ... hmmm ... what's that word? Oh yes, we'd call it a church!).

On the other side, you have the social liberals (a term which is often equated to "the amoral and the unprincipled", even though it was liberals who fought for the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement, women's voting rights, and every other form of social progress throughout history, while conservatives opposed them). They argue that separation of church and state promotes religious freedom rather than suppressing it, and they see any form of organized school prayer as an oppressive blanket upon religious minorities. They argue that it acts as a form of "religious census", by forcing minorities to exclude themselves from certain school activities, thus forcibly making their minority status obvious to their teachers and peers. They point out that most proponents of school prayer would never force students to wear an armband declaring their religious beliefs, even though school prayer would serve the same purpose.

It should be obvious that I agree with the liberals on this particular issue, and I would point out that anyone who truly understands the principle of religious tolerance (as opposed to paying it mere lip service) would agree with me. The problem here is, as they say, a failure to communicate. When liberals say "religious freedom", they mean "the freedom to choose any religion you want, in privacy and without oppression or discrimination". However, when conservatives say "religious freedom", they mean "the freedom to engage in any activity prescribed by my religious beliefs". Each group is honestly defending what it views as "religious freedom", but they are defending different things.

This is no small distinction; the liberal wants the freedom to choose his religion, while the conservative wants the freedom to practice his religion. In an ideal world, we could have both, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, this is not an ideal world, and the latter can often impinge upon the former. In Exodus 34, God tells his followers how to treat members of other religions: "destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves." Obviously, one cannot follow such beliefs as this while simultaneously protecting your neighbour's freedom to choose! Unlike one's choice of religion, which is private, one's practice of religion may intrude upon the rights and freedoms of others, hence it must be subject to limits. For example, if you wish to strictly follow the laws of the Old Testament, you should kill anyone who swears at his parents (Exodus 21:17). Needless to say, the state can and should step in to stop you from doing so! School prayer is not as extreme as summary execution of foul-mouthed children or destruction of other religions' cultural artifacts, but it does represent an activity which affects others, and one would think that any considerate person wouldn't need laws to stop him from doing things which make others feel unwelcome.

The Parable of the Man and his Foreign Cousin

Jesus was apparently fond of parables, so let me spin one for you now. An American man's cousin is in town visiting from Europe. He invites him out to dinner with a few of his friends. While at dinner, he starts talking about the NFL with his friends. After a few minutes, he notices that his cousin is acting withdrawn, and he suddenly realizes that a European would not know anything about American football, so he's feeling excluded and uncomfortable. The man considers several possible courses of action:

  1. Ridicule his cousin for his ignorance of American football.
  2. Ignore his cousin's obvious discomfort.
  3. Politely ask his cousin to sit apart from everyone else until they're finished talking about football.
  4. Try to steer the discussion into neutral, "common-ground" subjects so that his cousin can participate, knowing that he can always talk about football with his friends some other time.

If you were that man, what would you do? Obviously (assuming you have some shred of decency in you), you would choose option #4. I think virtually any Christian would agree, but not when it comes to school prayer. When it's time to engage in a group religious activity, a surprisingly large percentage of Christians will eagerly choose options #2 or #3: ignore the discomfort of religious minorities in their midst, or politely ask them to exclude themselves and then pat themselves on the back for being so thoughtful. Some will even choose option #1: ridicule the minorities. But if these people are truly the "good Christians" they claim to be, couldn't they choose option #4? Couldn't they pray discreetly, or reserve their prayer for places such as home or church? Why must they worship in a public manner, in mixed company, thus pointedly reminding religious minorities of their minority status? Why must they be so inconsiderate that the state actually has to step in and restrict them from doing so, and why must they be so obstinate in their disrespect for others that they would actually fight tooth and nail against such restrictions?

Members of the Christian Right often describe secularism as if it's another religion. "How can you kick Christianity out of the schools", they argue, "when the schools are permitted to teach secularism all they want?" But secularism is not a religion. Secularism is an absence of religion. Like the "common-ground" subjects of my parable, secularism represents that which is not exclusive to any particular religion, so that members of all religions can participate equally. That is why public schools should only have room for secularism, and not the religious practices of any one religion, no matter how numerous and aggressive its followers are.

For you Christians out there, remember Jesus' invocation of the ancient Golden Rule: treats others as you would have them treat you. How would you like to be the one that's singled out and excluded?

What to do?

Let's suppose you live in a community where "concerned parents" (read: obnoxious Bible-thumpers who can't differentiate between Sunday school and public school") have managed to get the Ten Commandments posted in the school foyer, the Lord's prayer recited every day, sex education eliminated, and evolution theory suppressed or diminished in the science curriculum. As an outnumbered individual, you cannot hope to change the situation (this is the great danger of democracy: the tyranny of a thoughtless majority, as exemplified by the black slavery era). But you can defend yourself.

On the subjects of contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, and evolution theory, you can try to overcome their censorship by educating yourself from outside sources (this will take work, but that which is worthwhile often does). But what about the Ten Commandments in the school foyer? Can you get those torn down? Probably not, and if you do it yourself, you might get arrested. What about the daily school prayer? Can you stop it? You'll find yourself in a costly court battle, hated by those "concerned parents" and many of their children (who will blame you for sowing discord even though they created it with their obnoxious insistence on performing private activities in public places). Can you simply exclude yourself from the prayer? It's not easy to stand apart from the group without social consequences, especially in high school. Worse yet, it's one-sided. Everyone else is making you feel uncomfortable, but you have no way of making them share or even recognize your discomfort.

In short, it is virtually impossible, given a strong and obnoxious Christian-right majority, to make them cease and desist. In many cases, you cannot even wring sympathy from them, such is the depth of their self-absorption. If you are a member of a religious minority in such a community (read: the entire Deep South of the United States), you simply have to suck it up and accept that your children will be publicly excluded from the rest of the community unless they pay lip service to someone else's religion. You can't dissuade the Christian right because they believe they're fighting for their rights and freedoms, and as Wesley Snipes' fictional "Simon Phoenix" character once remarked, "people have the right to be assholes". It's rather bleak, but there are things you can do to mitigate the problem or at the very least, prod your tormentors out of their contented haze.

Guerilla Religion

The Golden Rule is that you should treat others the way you would have them treat you. But since so many Christians preach this rule without actually obeying it, you may be forced to use an altered version: treat insensitive people the way they have treated you, so that they'll finally understand how it feels. Instead of logically arguing with them about the fallacy of their "religious freedom" rhetoric, simply express your own beliefs (or beliefs which you know annoy them) as publicly as they do theirs. In so doing, you will expose their "religious freedom" rhetoric for what it is. Freedom for the majority, but not for everyone else. This is what I like to call "guerilla religion".

  1. Rather than ask that Moses' Ten Commandments be taken down from the school foyer, print up selected statements from other religious or state leaders, and then tape them on the wall next to the Ten Commandments. For best results, choose things that would infuriate Bible thumpers, such as quotes from Satan, Thomas Jefferson's famous quote about the separation of church and state, a big Scientology poster, or a picture of a cult leader (or if you wish, try this PDF file). It's easy to do, whether overtly or covertly, you can simply re-post it if it's torn down, and if you get caught, they can hardly penalize you without exposing the hypocrisy of their "freedom of expression" rhetoric. The Scientology poster may be the best choice (even if you abhor their pseudoscience as I do), because they have repeatedly shown that they're more than willing to litigate in order to defend their status, and you might be able to get them to intercede on your behalf. If nothing else, you'll probably stir up a hornet's nest and provoke a lot of discussion.

  2. Rather than ask that people stop holding school prayers from which you must be excluded, simply engage in a different school prayer while they're engaging in theirs. If you want to get their goat, then loudly pray to Baal or Satan. If you want to be whimsical rather than aggressive, pray to Yoda or Vince Lombardi. Make up your own prayer and practice it so that it comes out smoothly. Either way, if they try to penalize you for religious expression in an inappropriate time and place, this will only expose their hypocrisy. This can also be a lot of fun when in the company of people who insist on saying grace in mixed company (suggestion: thank Willis Carrier for your food, since he invented refridgeration and without him, your food would have gone bad long before it reached your grocery store). Sure, somebody might be offended, but anyone who angrily demands respect for his beliefs should be asked why he didn't show respect for yours. Besides, if he can't have a sense of humour about somebody thanking Willis Carrier or Vince Lombardi for his food, then he's probably not very good company anyway.

  3. If you're an American and you're asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school (or anywhere else), don't complain about the religious wording. Just recite the pledge, but use the original words "One Nation, Indivisible" instead of the modern revision "One Nation Under God". Use them loudly and proudly. They're good words; better than the ones Congress decided to replace them with.

Christian egocentrics are often incapable of recognizing how insensitive they are to others, so it becomes necessary to explain it by showing them. For example, they can't understand why atheists don't like hearing "God bless America" at every turn, but how would they feel if a Church of Satan member insisted on saying "Satan Bless America?" They can't understand why atheists are offended when they use the words "secular" and "immoral" interchangeably, but how would they feel if somebody used the words "religious" and "immoral" interchangeably? They can't understand why atheists feel uncomfortable when the classroom is turned into an impromptu church service, but how would they feel if their children were put in a school where the majority prayed daily to Satan? They can't understand why atheists don't want the Ten Commandments posted in schools or courthouses, but how would they feel if somebody posted Anton Lavey's 9 Satanic statements? They are lucky because most religions (other than the aggressive expansionists, ie- Christianity and Islam) tend to shun aggressive, public displays, so they rarely find themselves on the receiving end of their own obnoxious behaviour. Perhaps if they could experience the discomfort of being confronted with someone else's religious beliefs in an obnoxious manner, they might recognize the flaws in their own behaviour.

A Parting Question

Did you ever wonder why those Gideon people are allowed to go through hotels putting Bibles in every room? Just try going to a hotel's management and asking for permission to put Satanist or Scientology literature in every room. In the world of the Christian Right, "the right to religious freedom" really means "the right to practice our religion freely, not yours.".

Last updated: October 28, 2001