Free Essays, Term Papers, Research Papers at Anti Essays

“Our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13 ) Prior to 35 years ago most children in the public school prayed this very prayer every morning, and even read Scripture to begin their day. What happened to change this; where it is banned today?
The date was June 17, 1963. The U.S. Supreme Court, according to Ted Dracos (2003), “kicked reverential Bible reading and prayer recitation out of schools” (p. 124). It began in 1953 when Madalyn Murray O’Hair, a woman charged by communistic socialist thinking, filed suit against the Maryland school system (Murray vs. Curlett) to stop reading scripture during school. She was seeking to relieve, she said, her son of proposed persecution because of their atheist beliefs while he was enrolled in public school. Removing prayer from the school system has brought much controversy into the arena for the last three decades or so, but it has become especially heated over the last several years. The issue of religion in state funded schools, but more specifically, prayer in school, has not just brought fighting among atheists and Christians; it has scintillated attention in and through all religious groups in the U.S..
Upon careful examination, it seems there are many more arguments against the case of prayer in school than there are for it. With that said however, the adage “quality before quantity” comes into play; even though anti-prayer groups may amass more quantity of arguments, those for prayer happen to have much better quality arguments. Pro-prayer groups have a much stronger claim, and though they have reached the ears of the court, they have yet to influence the hearts of...