School Prayer Groups:
We Kick Ass for The Lord

The recent killing of 5 school prayer group members by high school student Michael Carneal in West Paducah, Kentucky has increased controversy over the appropriateness of prayer in public schools. Although his motive is not clear it is widely assumed that the prayer group children were specifically targeted. I remember the day when the principal of the elementary school which I attended read the Lord’s Prayer before the morning announcements. Even in those days of rampant western ethnocentrism several children had to wait outside until the prayers were over. In 1998 school prayer groups are the fastest growing type of club or extra-curricular activity in Canadian high schools. This statistic alone says a lot about the impact of court decisions, which in the 1980s, made open or school sanctioned prayer in schools off limits. School prayer grew out of the reaction of religious organizations to the threats of secular society limiting them to churches or separate high schools in their activity.

The standard for allowing these groups is that they are sanctioned like any other club; if a school has a football team or a chess club it can have a prayer group. The Canadian Civil Liberties Union argues that this standard is faulty because religion is something radically different from chess or football. Anyone who has ever been beaten or discriminated against for their beliefs can tell you that much. On the other side of this debate is the religious right which says that if the groups convene outside school hours and do not actively recruit within the school then no one’s the wiser. That may well be true but what invariably happens is that groups can’t resist the urge to recruit within the school. Even within our school, prayer groups which, according to the Southern Baptist’s own standards should be as invisible as possible, have public announcements, displays and posters. There is, however nothing inherently wrong with posters and it is possible that secularists have been somewhat overzealous in their campaign against religion in public schools.

The real danger and the arguments surrounding school prayer groups revolve around what they may lead to and what types of precedents they may set. Independent groups are seen by the churches as stepping stones to returning prayer into the classroom. Currently there are 12,000 school prayer groups in North America the vast majority of which are evangelical Christian groups. One of the great things about the prayer groups in our school is that they are very diverse and represent many different faiths and nationalities. The one belief which is not represented, however, is no faith at all. They say that you cannot have freedom of religion without freedom from religion. Using publicly funded buildings for prayer would seem to be a violation of the trust that is placed in clearly designated secular tax dollars. Those who wish to financially support religion in schools designate their municipal taxes to do so through the separate school board. The dangers of advancing school prayer groups to work on a wider and more visible basis are proven by recent actions of prayer groups in the U.S. Religious announcements are once again made on the P.A. and prayers are read at commencements and before athletic competitions.

US Senator Jesse Helms and evangelist Benny Proffitt currently support a bill called the Religious Freedom Amendment which would legally exempt school prayer from the legislation which currently outlaws it. This amendment has already passed in the House of Representatives and a similar law has been proposed by Reform Party Leader Preston Manning in Canada. The validity of these laws is not what is important because they will more than likely be struck down as unconstitutional; what is important is the sentiment behind them. Christian groups seem to think that they can justify violating the constitution and violating everyone’s civil rights because they offer to have all religious groups represented in school prayer groups. They offer specifically designed non-denominational non-specific prayer just to prove their point. This action still excludes those who don’t support religion of any kind. Its a well meaning gesture but it is far short of justifying any further expansion of school prayer.

As they exist now, school prayer groups have no negative effects, in fact they do a lot of good. Their charitable work and volunteerism around the school is to be commended. One of the main goals of any religion is expansion so I asked a member of a prayer group what he thought about expansion and other related issues:

HTP: What are your thoughts on school prayer do you think it should be allowed during school hours?
JAM Member: Depends... I mean if everyone is okay with it.
HTP: Do you feel that most people are okay with it? What’s your approximation of public opinion?
JAM: Well If people don't complain, then let it be... but if there are complaints about stuff, then some consideration may be in line for the particular prayer meeting.
HTP: Do you feel there is a movement to expand prayer groups in peel schools?
JAM: Not really, I mean, there isn't that much "publicity" in the schools.
HTP: How would you respond to detractors who say that public schools are funded secularly and therefore should not be houses of prayer?
JAM: Well, the charter of freedom and rights (is that the name?) "guarantees" that right, to do whatever we please, more or less as long as it isn't criminal.
HTP: I'm not so sure about that.
JAM: hmm?
HTP: We are guaranteed a separation of church and state though.
JAM: oh... well then how bout this: If English people are funding English schools, then they shouldn't teach French. That's almost the same kinda idea those particular detractors are voicing out: If we pay for their education, they should be learning what we are paying them, not what they want to learn I think that idea is just unintelligent.
HTP: Recently a Bill has passed the [United States] House of Representatives which allows prayers to be read over morning announcements. Do you support this development?
JAM: I have mixed feelings about that... I mean it could spur tensions in the school, that could lead to racial violence, but then it could also be good by helping recent immigrants and minorities who are uncomfortable in the school setting .
HTP: So you feel it would all right if the prayers were non-specific but still religious?
JAM: I think that would be more appropriate, I mean if the prayers were preaching love not hate against others i.e. Satanists "praying" die Christians die... then that wouldn't be any good.
HTP: What about the rights of those who oppose religion in general or at least religion in schools?
JAM: That would be something very difficult to work out: One not so good solution would be segregating the school into different groups... segregation won't be good.
JAM: The other solution would be a simple "prayer" where it is directed to the students’ good and not spawn from any particular religion
HTP: Don't they have a right to not hear a prayer as much as anybody else has a right to hear a prayer?
JAM: ...
HTP: Did you see Springer on Friday?
JAM: I don't watch Springer.
HTP: Why not? It's a good show.
JAM: Well, I just don't get around to watching it... sometimes when I have nothing to do, (not literally) I might flip to Springer.
HTP: God finds time to watch Springer, why can't you?
JAM: Oh yeah, I just thought of another point... it ain't a very good one though... nah, I won't say it cuz it's pretty lame nah... dumb idea...not worth saying...
HTP: Go ahead. we're all friends here.
JAM: ...
HTP: Does the Christian Fellowship own a compound?
JAM: Well I don't know about the Christian fellowship in our school, I dunno what really happened to it... probably cuz the people who went there lost interest or something... but there are Christian fellowships run by churches that run on Fridays at various churches
HTP: What group do you belong to?
JAM: I belong to the JAM fellowship, JAM stands for Jesus and Me
HTP: Does Jesus love me?
JAM: Jesus has love for everyone, no matter what.
HTP: That’s great. Thanks for your time man.