Schempp verdict (Haas 30). The debate over the separation of church and state had been swirling through courtrooms for years. The controversy over school prayer in the Engel versus Vitale case started over a prayer recited in the New York public school system, known as the Regent’s Prayer. A group of three parents found the prayer unfair to their children and decided to take their case to court. After hard work and tough battles the case came to the Supreme Court. On June 25, 1962 the court made the decision to ban prayer from public schools across the nation. Yet, the prayer is beneficial to help minimize juvenile delinquency, does not favor one religion, and revives America’s spiritual heritage.

“Something is terribly wrong with our education system. The evidence is everywhere: children who cannot read, graduates who cannot reason, danger in school yards, and indoctrination in classrooms,” (Free 1). Since the court outlawed prayer, the nation has been in a moral decline. Serious crimes in schools have risen to 3,000,000 a y

Earl congressional and presidential actions encouraged religion in public schools. For instance, the Northwest Treaty of 1787 and 1789 declared, “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary for good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of learning shall forever be encouraged,” (Geisler 1). Thus religion seemed to be necessary. Presidents also made proclamations encouraging school prayer. For instance, President Washington proclaimed that the nation’s duty was to obey and acknowledge God and recommended that a day be set for public thanksgiving and prayer (1).

Forbidding prayer establishes the religion of secularism, which characteristically shows no belief in God, God-given morals, prayer, or the Judgment Day. The Supreme Court has affirmed that there are religions, such as “secular humanism”, which do not believe in God,” (Geisler 2). “Justice Potter feared that taking all religious beliefs and practices out of school lead to the “establishment of secularism,” (Bryce 26). By not allowing prayer and other religious expression the courts have favored the beliefs of secularism.

Drug use in teenagers has increased over the years. Teens have turned to drugs because of many reasons including lack of strong moral values and religious beliefs (Madigan 1). Jan Cook, a mother of four, believes that “when prayer was taken out of school guns started coming in.” More and more teens are getting pressured into taking drugs and without proper values they will continue to use them more often.

The regent’s prayer consists of twenty-two simple yet meaningful words. It required only thirty seconds to recite which was hardly enough time to mean a great deal to anyone (Haas 39). Therefore the prayer was a harmless act to nonbelievers and an important detail to those who believed. To take away the right to prayer was just like taking away a student’s religion.

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us our parents, our teachers, and our country,” recited students in the New York public schools (Condon 255). This prayer, known as the regent’s prayer, or one quite similar had been said in schools all over the United States for years. The prayers were not for teaching religious beliefs but merely voluntary confessions of faith (Haas 38). Since the prayer was so short it could not have possibly caused any harm.

Some topics in this essay:
Jan Cook, Supreme Court, Declaration Independence, President Washington, Crisis Taking, Benjamin Franklin, Court June, Chairman Celler, Safety Center, God Trust”, prayer school, public school, school prayer, york public, public schools, supreme court, geisler 2, religious beliefs, public school system, geisler 1, belief god, york public school, actions encouraged religion, america’s spiritual heritage, engel versus vitale,