Contrary to the claims, students have the Constitutional right to pray in
school, either individually or in informal groups so long as the prayer is not
organized by the school. But if the students only knew what they were really
doing by praying in school. II. First of all they are going against the Bible.
As to quote, Matthew 6:5-6: "And when you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street
corners. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray..."
So as you can see those who pray in places such as the cafeteria, middle of the
hall or things of that nature is actually going against the bible. Now I am not
saying that a person should not pray in schools, but they should do it just as
the Bible says in a personal place. If a student can't find a personal place,
and have an undesirable need to pray, they need to not make a big deal out of
it. Praying as put in the Bible is a personal experience between that person and
God. Not an event to be proclaimed up and down the hallway. III. Another problem
there is with praying in schools is the fact that there are some students who
don't believe in God. The purpose of a democracy is to have the majority decide
but yet always respect the rights of the minority. Some administrators,
teachers, parents, and most importantly, kids, just feel uncomfortable when it
comes to religion. Several factors could be attributed to this problem, from too
many religions and religious theories to religious pressure to lack thereof. But
whatever the reason some people feel offended by seeing these students pray.
They think that their rights are being infringed upon. Well in example, if a
shirt some student is wearing offends a person they tell someone about being
offended. Someone else is also offended and so they tell someone. These 2 people
influenced by what they have heard tell more people. This chain reaction
continues until that kind of shirt is not allowed in schools, in example
Marilynn Manson shirts. The minority there is the students wanting to wear the
shirts; the majority is the people offended by it. The majority spoke and the
minority is told to fallow. But now it is the minority being offended no one
cares to do anything about it. IV. The last problem I have are the advocates of
school prayer say that without it there is moral decline, blaming the absence of
school prayer for everything from low SAT scores to teenage pregnancy. But it
just won't work. In fact, legislated school prayer would make things worse. For
a school to require students to recite, for example, a Christian prayer would
give Christianity a special status, implying that other religions are somehow
inferior. One religion would be pitted against another, conflicts would arise,
and intolerance would grow. The only palatable compromise in a directed public
school prayer would be a watered-down prayer that would be meaningless to the
deeply religious and an infringement on those who follow no religion. Some of
our senators are trying to pass an amendment in have school prayer required. But
the First Amendment begins "Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." If
we were to have this school wide required prayer we would be in essance
establishing a religion. And even though what they are trying to pass is a
constitutional amendment it goes against on of the main things our forefathers
came here for. The First Amendment is one of the finest laws man has ever
written. For over two hundred years, it continues to mean exactly what it was
originally intended to mean: Religion and other fundamental rights should remain
beyond the reach of majorities and governments, and certainly not subjected to
the political whims of Congress.

Bibliography"FAQ." Prayer in Schools. http://www.atheists.org/schoolhouse/faqs.prayer.html.
Downloaded December 16, 1999 "Maryland teen walks out of Graduation over
Prayer." Prayer in schools. http://www.freedomforum.org/religion/1999/5/28mdgradprayer.asp
Downloaded December 16, 1999 "Smudge Report." Bible verse. http://www.smudgereport.com/longstories/prayer.html
Downloaded December 16, 1999 "Bible Belivers should oppose school
prayer." School Prayer. http://users.cnmnetwork.com/lotl2k/prayer.html
Downloaded December 16, 1999 "The Bible and Public Prayer." Public
Prayer. http://www.religioustolerance.org/prayer.htm. Downloaded December 16,
1999