I received an e-mail recently (not the first of its kind) stating that the whole problem in the U.S. today is that we don't allow prayer, or God in our public schools. The message here asserted that separation of church and state was only working in favor of non-Christian individuals, and more specifically the non-religious, agnostic and atheistic individuals in our society. So, here's my rant and my take on the subject:
First of all, the facts; prayer in public school is not illegal or even unconstitutional. Students have a constitutional right to individually pray in school, as long as it isn't disruptive to others and of the learning process. The problem comes in when a school official or someone representing the school leads students in prayer. This sends a very strong message that his or her religion and way of praying is the right way.
Next, there seems to be a growing consensus among Christians that they are some how getting the short end of the stick because of separation of church and state. The first ammendment to the constitution provides sepearation of church and state for the benefit of all types of religion, including Christianity.
Separation of church and state means the government gives no special treatment to any religion, nor does it discriminate against any religion. This allows for religious liberty - it means that people can practice their faith without persecution and without special treatment.
I don't believe religion should ever be silenced, but in a pluralistic democracy where there are all kinds of religions and beliefs (not to mention people of conscience who are non-believers) neither Christians nor anyone else gets to force their doctrine down the throats of the rest of us simply because they're religious or may be in a majority. In America, everybody is given the freedom to believe or not believe as they choose. This is a major strength of our country, and certainly not a weakness.
The email that I received stated that 89% of Americans are Christians, so this is what should be the mainstream in our schools, learning and everyday lives. I guess that means the opinions of me and over 33 million others (assuming the 89% number given is even correct) just don't count, and we should just shut up and move out of the way. Does anyone else remember why the pilgrims came here in the first place? I seem to remember it having something to do with fleeing religious persecution.