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School Prayer: An Analysis of the Ongoing Conflict with Religion
That Remains in Public Schools Today






MIDN 4/c Alex Lagunzad



















FP130, Section 4001/5001/6005 (pick yours)
Maj Donahoe

19 November, 2008


“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”  

Amendment I, United States Constitution

Introduction

The First Amendment guarantees that Congress can neither establish a state-approved religion nor prevent people from practicing their own religion or no religion. (p 7 Gold)   The debate centers around “establishment of religion.”   Some oppose any connection between government and religion.   Some Americans believe government should not promote or become involved with religion in any way.   Others believe religion has long been a part of American life since colonial days and should be encouraged by the government.   These divergent views have resulted in lawsuits that the Supreme Court has ultimately addressed.   One of the first involves the area of public schools and it involved the seminal United States Supreme Court case called Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)   (Gold p 9-10)
Engel v Vitale was a 1962 landmark United States Supreme Court case that determined that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official daily school prayer and require its recitation in public schools.   The controversy behind the case began four years earlier in 1958 on Long Island, New York.   That year, the New York State Board of Regents decided that to establish a standard for moral and spiritual training within the state’s public schools.   [loren, p.25]   A number of religious practices, such as prayer and Bible reading, were already in place within many school...