I thought I’d start off sharing
with you all something that wouldn’t get me excommunicated right off the bat and
is probably more of a political slant than theological: prayer in schools.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9jbNradeTBxO51lrJcBXd6fVfk8RQ0Cx3DWzivZO5b1R05Xc8EqsR4gAXgTsGyPA1IV9jYYR_WDfvLCvVDu8s4ZS0RyyaFN0JvzRw9KJHfUI_lRpnqsPEqaOtvQS4bmy2OZgvbVoPns/s1600/prayer+in+school+pic.jpg)
And what about the whole Matthew
6:6 thing: “But when you pray, go into
your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father…”?
However, my biggest deal has to
do with what our forefathers communicated to us through the First and
Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.
My understanding of the First
Amendment is that here in the United
States the federal government can’t make any
laws that establish one religion over another.
And it goes on to say that the government can’t “impede” the exercising
of any religion. The Fourteenth Amendment
then states that no state or local government can either.
In other words, it’s illegal all
the way around for any organization that is under federal, state, or local
governmental control to give precedence to one religious group over other
religious groups. To me, that says a Muslim has just as much right to exercise
his religion anywhere as a Christian does, as a Buddhist does, etc., etc.
So, am I saying that we should
have Muslim prayers over the school loudspeakers in the morning after the
Pledge of Allegiance? Hindu chants
before school lunches? ABSOLUTLEY
NOT. Just the opposite: I don’t want my children to be subject to
someone leading them in prayers of another religion, or even another denomination that believes differently
than I do.
However, since we live in
the great free country of the United States of America, if we Christians are
given free reign to pray at any school function, then the Amendments to our
Constitution also give that right to other religions also. One group can’t have religious freedom
without the others also having it.
But here’s the kicker to me, and
it’s a spiritual point: no one can be
kept from privately praying anywhere…ever.
If you seriously want to pray a sincere prayer at a school function, you
CAN. No one can stop you. You can go into the “private room” of your
heart, and say anything to the Father that you want. As one of my college classmates Morgan Cryar
wrote in his song “Pray in the USA”:
I got news for you today
You can’t stop a heart that prays
Public prayer in schools? 100% against it. But pray away in that chapel of your heart.
God hears you even though you’re not on the loudspeaker….
(Side note: What about prayers at things like See You At the Pole, FCA meetings, etc.? I believe these are fine. Students are there because they share similar beliefs and these are not school-sponsored functions. Not that they have to have my approval or anything, you know.)