Engel v. Vitale: Prayer in the Public Schools is a book written by Julia C. Loren. Loren’s main purpose for writing this book is to inform us about the history of the Engel v. Vitale trial, an important trial which determined that prayer was not acceptable in the public schools quote as the book says the “In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down one of its most controversial decisions of the twentieth century.” In this book, Loren was not bias towards either Engel’s or Vitale’s side of the case as she did not appear to be very fond of one particular side and gave information regarding both sides of the case. With that being said, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history or even the Engel v. Vitale case itself because the author was very straightforward in telling about both sides of the case without leaving anything out. Engel v. Vitale:
Santa Fe High School changed the policy by establishing elections of spokesperson and voting whether the prayers should be delivered. A majority of the students voted for continuation of prayers and elected a student to deliver them. The District Court upheld the policy but permitted only nonsectarian, no proselytizing prayers. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the previous and current versions of the school’s prayer policy were invalid. Santa Fe Independent School District petitioned for a writ of certiorari arguing that the new policy did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The United States of America was founded by people who were mainly trying to escape from some religious laws, to gain religious freedom or religion equality. Most of America 's first immigrants were Christians, therefore is no surprise the country is built on and with Christian morals. During 1980 a large population of immigrants came into U.S, this group of immigrants came from 5 different continents, with different religious backgrounds. However, the largest religious group among this large population of immigrants were Christians. About one-third of this immigrant who are not Christians find it difficult and unsafe to stay in a country where Christians seem to have an upper hand, very few of this people have stepped out from their comfort
The reasoning behind that decision was that the provision allowing students to absent themselves from that activity did not make that law constitutional. The purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent government interference with religion (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). Justice Douglas concurred with what the court had found. He took a broader view of the Establishment Clause, arguing that any type of public promotion of religion, including giving financial aid to religious schools, violates the establishment clause (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). I would agree with this decision in some ways, but there are some that I do not agree with.
In 1962, the Supreme Court case “Engle v. Vitale” ruled that school prayer could no longer be performed in public classrooms because it was offensive to some families’ religious beliefs. The arguments revolved around the different interpretations and understandings of the 1st Amendment that stated, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” Those opposed to school prayer claimed that it violated their personal/religious beliefs; because their children were forced to pray to a God they did not believe existed. They thought that religious activities should be separate from government policies and remain a “function to the people themselves.” On the other hand, those supporting
Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, stated "Private voluntary prayer is not only permitted in public schools; it is constitutionally protected." (Civilrights 8)”. You can pray by yourself or with your friends all you want, that is protected under freedom of religion, but the minute the government gets involved and supports the prayer, in this case the Santa Fe School District., that’s when it is
The case of Everson v. Board of Education began when New Jersey issued a state law authorized schools to make rules for transporting students to and from public and private nonprofit schools. Ewing Township made students use the public bus as school transportation, and they reimbursed the parents for the cost of transportation. Everson filed a suit against the Board of Education, arguing that tax money collected for public schools was being used to pay the families of student that attended private schools that were affiliated with various religious groups. Everson believed the Board had violated the “constitutional guarantee against the ‘establishment’ of a religion contained in the 1st Amendment” (phschool.com). In violating the guarantee of the 1st Amendment, Everson thought the Ewing Township board had also violated the guaranteed right to separation of church and state.
As we all know today’s school are a lot different than those in the 1960’s. During the 1960’s is was tradition to open each and every day with a nondenominational prayer, along with the Pledge of Allegiance. Today, prayer is accepted in schools as long as it is led by the student themselves, and not the teacher. In 1962 the case of Engel vs. Vitale went to the Supreme Court based off the idea of whether school sponsored prayer violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause. At this time there was a general law in New York State that required every school within the state to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer that did not restrict denomination.
They have taken religion out of all schools in any degree. Religion is what make our country, it’s why we are here today. Whether you agree with it or not that’s what helped form our nation as we know it. In our day it has become our role to stand firm in defending religion. Not only for our selves and the LDS Church, but for all
In 1951, New York Board of Regents sponsored a twenty two word school prayer. Students participating in the prayer were voluntary and could be excused with parent permission. The prayer read, “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country”. The prayer was made with generic words to appeal to many different religions and faiths. However, many parents objected to the prayer and its presence in public schools which is the reason for Engel v. Vitale.
In 1951, the following prayer was written that was intended to be recited each morning as part of the regents’ Statement of Moral and Spiritual Training in the Schools: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.” Because the regents made the recitation of the prayer each day entirely optional to the school boards and the individual families of students, many New York school districts shunned the prayer because of their eclectic student bodies. Not only was the state religiously and ethnically diverse, but religious instruction in state schools was declared unconstitutional by the 1948 Supreme Court decision in the McCollum vs. Board of Education case. Because of the constantly increasing controversy about religious teaching in public schools, at least 90% of New York districts were not using the prayer by the late 1950s. Then, in 1958, five parents (of varying religions and ethnicities) of students within the district filed a lawsuit to stop the use of the prayer in their schools.
The Pledge of Allegiance was created in 1892 and as seen been the way how most public areas start their day. Now when doing the pledge it is respectful and expected for you to stand in honor of the veterans that have lost their lives for our freedom but some people don’t because of religious beliefs or other factors that are covered by the 1st amendment. In these two articles they show the pros and cons of standing during the pledge and what others think. In the first article, the pro side it states, ”Last year, my final year as a high school teacher before retiring, I had two students who decided to take a knee during the Pledge of Allegiance. I wondered why and framed the question in a way they might not have expected.
Would you want anyone to ban books so you couldn’t further your education? School Board members should not ban certain books because students can get more of a challenge from certain books, you also can get many life lessons from a more mature book, and students also get more of a choice which means more books to read. One reason I believe school board members should not ban books is because it gives students more of a challenge. For example, teachers like to challenge kids to read above their grade level and reading more mature books will get them there. However, how will they get assigned harder or more challenging books if those kinds of books are banned from the school library.
The banning books: Praised or Disapproved. Many books have been banned all around the world despite that people still think that books should not be banned because of the content inside even if the book has a good message. Books such as Harry Potter have been banned for it use of magic and witchcraft. But still others think that the lesson is more important. Banning books have pros and cons and can be seen either way.
Do you know what your religious freedoms are in school, or what you can control in your learning? Well the role that religion plays in school should be minimal or none. Three reasons why religion should be kept to a minimum in U.S public schools are; the constitution, public school is public, and common sense. The first reason is the constitution. The Constitution states that religion is separated from state.
