On School Prayer and the Pledge

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Whatever. Character attacks on a dead woman mean nothing to the issue of school prayer.

She wasn't evil, she did a valuable service. She was murdered because she made the mistake of hiring a criminal.

oh, so the pope gets a pass on turning a blind eye to priests raping small boys and allowing a halocaust denier back into the fold? By taking religion out of school, we allowed truth and things that actaully exist to be taught, not some fairy tale about a jewish zombie that requires you symbolically commit canniblism to be saved.

I went to a praying school (Catholic) and I went to a non-praying school (public), and I was treated like s**** in both of them because of my Asperger's, so I can't see what the difference is.

If a group of students--on their own initiative--want to meet somewhere before school and pray, then I think they should be allowed to do so, as long as they do not force or pressure others to join in. However, I am suspicious of the motives of those who want to pray in school, even in a private group. It seems that they are trying to force the issue here, that the freedom they want is the freedom to cram their religion down others' throats. There is no law that says that students cannot arrange to meet before school in someone's house and pray there if they so desire. There is no law that says they cannot gather quietly in a corner of the schoolyard. But when they try to be conspicuous about it, then I have to ask, why?

Most employers do not have prayer in the workplace. It seems to me that if prayer in the schools is so beneficial, then prayer in the workplace ought to be even more beneficial. But I don't see anyone agitating for workplace prayer. Considering all the problems with the economy, and with some of the decisions being made by CEO's, I think workplace prayer ought to be a fine thing indeed. It might even be better than stimulus checks.

Hey, maybe that is why the economy is in such crappy shape. We never let God into the corporate boardrooms and on the assembly lines . . .

He's a deluded nut and addict who unfortunately was taken advantage of.

Hes clean now and has been for some time. His mom was one that took advantage of him and used him as a pawn.

Ancalagon, the reason why I have reservations about conspicuous displays of religion is because I suspect that it is simply that--a display. "See how holy we are." If I recall correctly, Jesus had something to say on that subject as well, and he did not mince words. He told his disciples that they were not to stand out in public like the pagans and hypocrites but to go to their closets and pray to their Father in secret. So apparently Jesus himself wasn't too thrilled about conspicuous displays of religion.

What I mean when I say conspicuous, I mean going out of your way to let people know why you are gathered there. A Hey, Look at US sort of thing. And when students gather around a flagpole, they are out in the open for all to see. Is it really necessary to call that much attention to what you are doing.

I am not saying that Christian students (or students of any other faith) should deny who they are and not practice their religion. It is the showiness that I object to. Especially when it is NOT followed up in the hallways. As I said, I went to a praying school and a non-praying school, and after the prayers were over, the mean students continued to be mean and the other students (and facility) looked the other way. That is not my definition of how a Christian should be. I am not interested in what is said or not said at the flagpole. I am not even interested in what the Columbine student answered when she was asked if she believed in God (she said yes and was shot). What I am interested is how did she relate to the two students beforehand. I understand that they had been picked on, and while I don't condone what they did, I can understand why. What I want to know is, did she try to befriend (really befriend, not just witness) these boys, did she stick up for them when she saw them being harassed, or did she simply turn her head and not see any harassment? That is what I want to know. Maybe that is why the boys shot her when she said that she believed in God, because they did not see any difference in the way she acted and the way the others acted.

The sad thing is that outsiders sometimes get high expectations of Christianity based upon what they have read and heard, and when they find that Christians don't always live up to these high expectations, but instead make excuses for not living up to these expectations, they become saddened or frustrated. So if you are going to go public with your faith, praying at the flagpole, etc., you had better be prepared to live up to a very high standard.