This is from another thread moved here because it got off topic because of someone who made a remark that our schools teach children to "hate Jesus" and "accept homosexuality."

Last post by this person:




If you want to "claim you love Christ" in school go ahead. Nobody cares. If another person "frowns on it" they can if they want.

But what I am talking about is school sponsored prayer to Jesus Christ or Allah or any other God in public school.

IT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED. That is STATE sponsored religion.

We free Americans will not abide that. Get used to it.

And stop whining and complaining.

I'm neither for or against the issue, but I have learned something pertinent to your statement.

The separation of Church and State that Thomas Jefferson wrote of in his letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802 was not meant as a statement of excising religious observance from government or state administered institutions.

His words, "a wall of separation between Church and State" were not meant to remove religion from all government or civic settings, but to prohibit religious sectarianism. England had a State-sanctioned National religion(sponsored is a misleading word to use here), and the Founding Fathers were opposed to that.

The Danbury Baptists had written to Thomas Jefferson seeking reassurances that their religious liberty was to be guaranteed, not that religious expression on public grounds should be banned.



Are you implying that "we free Americans" have the freedom to suppress? I find that surprisingly obtuse, considering that no one was required to participate in prayer. When a public school administrator decides to teach the Bible in school as a requirement to everyone, that would be wrong.

No. I am implying that a captive audience at a school assembly should not be subjected to a religious ceremony or speech that ends with "In Satan's name, Amen" or "..In Allah's name, Amen," or in "Jesus's name, Amen." or any other acknowledgment that assumes there is a God by whatever name they have decided to call him.

If you want to pray in public you are welcome and invited to do so on your own, but do not ask the entire school to do it with you, and do not separate people out by telling them they can leave the room or opt out and continue to talk to their friends while prayer is being conducted. That is bad manners.

I don't go to funerals anymore in my town because there is always some Baptist preacher trying to preach his doctrine of Hell and damnation and instill the fear of death into the poor friends of the deceased who just came to pay their respects. I'm damn sick of that kind of rude behavior.

The problem here is this. So lets just say that we allow "religious expression" on public property. Where does it stop? What are the guide lines? Do you know how many religions are out there? Do you think there is room on public property for all of them to be represented?

Is it even important for government to worry about this subject? Is it a valid expenditure of resources to even have our overpaid officials even spend time deciding the answers to these questions? Is it fair for the non religious that there taxes are being spent on those same officials to spend that time?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/07/christmas-display-astray/

I think ALL of the signs, and "religious expressions" are equally absurd on the property of a secular nation. It just wastes all of our time and money on something that has no functional value.

I totally agree Billy!

I get frustrated at Baptist funerals as well (I was raised in the South and almost all of my family is Baptist--my nuclear family is the oddball). But it's part of their religious beliefs--they have to use every opportunity possible to get people to acknowledge God. I don't like how it's typically done (especially at funerals), but I know it's important to that denomination. And if you're at a funeral of a Baptist, the family is probably expecting that anyway.

Which is all off-topic from the religion in schools issue.

When I read the thread title, I thought you were discussing *teaching* religion in public schools. So far you've only talked about prayer. What do you think of having religion courses offered in high schools?