I've been casually watching a little drama
unfold at my alma mater over the issue of school prayer. Apparently, they
still conducted Christian prayers over the loudspeaker (despite the fact that
it is illegal - but they had segregated proms until about seven-eight years
ago, so local residents tend to disregard some laws until they're challenged)
until just recently when a parent approached the school board and demanded that
they stop. That got me thinking: If my child attended public
school, how would I feel about faculty led prayer?? And I've decided that
I would be totally against it.
The main reason Chris and I decided to
homeschool Noah was so he would have a Christ-centered education. There
are, of course, many other reasons (consistency concerns as we move, quality of
education, independent thinking/learning, the fact that Noah is a bear if he's
woken up before he's ready), but ensuring that Noah places God at the center of
his education and understands and recognizes that ALL knowledge is related and
governed by HIM was at the top of our list for important reasons to homeschool.
A public school cannot do that. Even if prayer was conducted in
schools (by faculty) there would be the requirement that all
faiths/religions/doctrines be presented as true, right, and/or valid -
something I find considerably more troublesome than only allowing children to
have quiet moment to themselves for prayer. I certainly recognize that
other religions have just as much right to practice their faith as I do, but I
would not want my child exposed to the "all religions are valid"
argument as it would have to be presented in public school. As Koukl mentions
in his commentary, are we prepared for prayers such as this: "May
God, Buddha, Krishna, Cosmic Consciousness, and all that is, bless you"???
If I hadn't already planned to homeschool Noah through high school, that
would be the moment that that I pulled my child out of the public education
system. I firmly believe we can teach our children about the value of
diversity and religious tolerance without teaching religious pluralism...which
is what we risk happening if we were to reinstitute prayer in public school.
I agree with the author of the article below
that I wish we still were able to conduct a "God of the Bible" prayer
in our schools at the start of every day as we did for almost 200 years before
the separation of church and state became an issue within our public schools.
But we can't. For those of us that are Christians, I think we would
definitely do more harm than good if we had to make adjustments in public
school to accommodate other faiths/practices as well as our own. At 6, 8,
and 10 years of old (and even older), children are extremely impressionable and
I would not wish to relinquish my rights as a parent to a virtual stranger in
determining what constitutes (at its very best) good Christian teachings or (at
its worst) broad and inclusive religious "tolerance." Before
our children are exposed to religious pluralism (or what another writer calls
"subjective reality"), we need to equip them with the desire to seek
out the inspired word of God and know and understand the difference between it
and other religions. And I firmly believe that is the parents' responsibility...not
the state.
Stand to Reason: School Prayer: The Wrong Hill to Die On
