Argumentative Essay: Nondenominationalal Prayer In Public Schools

Introduction In 1962, a short, voluntary prayer at the start of each school day was authorized the Board of Regents for the State of New York. Each public school was required to open the day with a nondenominational prayer, forcing the students to recognize Christianity as their religion, unless the they decided to excuse themselves from this activity. Steven Engel, a parent of a student in Herricks School District, sued on behalf of his child, stating that the law requiring a nondenominational prayer violated the Establishment Cause of the First Amendment. Legal Arguments Engel argued that the separation of church and state was not upheld with the New York law, since it required public schools to say a nondenominational prayer each day. He stated that this prayer violated the 1st Amendment rights and that it was forcing religion onto the students. Engel was against such actions and thought that this mandatory prayer should be banned from schools. Vitale, a representative for the Board of Regents, argued that this required prayer at the start of each school day did not establish a religion of the state. He stated that there are many aspects of the government and

Justice Hugo Black wrote the opinion for the majority: “We think that by using its public school system to encourage recitation of the Regents’ Prayer, the State of New York has adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with the Establishment Clause.” Justice Black also goes to state that “When the power… of government is placed behind a particular religious belief, the indirect coercive pressure upon religious minorities to conform to the prevailing officially approved religion is plain.” The Court ruled the prayer unconstitutional because having it be required to be said in public schools made it seem that the State of New York was promoting a specific religion, disregarding the separation of church and