Journal Gazette: A "moment" is about as nonspecific a term for measuring time as, say, a "smidgen" is for delineating distance or a "tad" for calculating volume.
But, that didn’t stop the Illinois legislature from passing a measure earlier this month requiring all public schools to observe a daily "moment of silence," without defining exactly how long these so-called moments should last.
Such ambiguities in the modified Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act — which previously permitted such periods of quiet on a voluntary basis.
Praying is usually done within one’s own thoughts. Rarely, unless you are in a church or by your bedside or in a prayer group, do you speak your prayer out loud. Asking for ‘special’ individual time during the school day sounds a bit ridiculous to me.
I’m sure I’m going to get a lot of complaints for saying that; but seriously folks, how many times do you remember sitting at your desk in school, day dreaming, thinking about your boy/girl friend, thinking about going on recess to play or going to lunch, or simply just caught yourself starring at the wall? How many times have you been caught writing notes to friends or drawing pictures on the back of your notepad or text messaging your friends?
At any given "moment" a person can say a pray to themselves. A person doesn’t need a ‘special’ time of day to do this. That’s like saying you can only day dream at 10:20 A.M. every day, for one minute.
One day soon, I’m sure we’ll hear about the Illinois legislature designating that a student can have this "moment" anytime during the day in which they "need" one. I can see the students now. They’re bored with class so they interrupt the instructor to say something like, "I’ve a need to pray".
Give me a break.
The real reason for this special "moment" is to slowly bring back open prayer to schools. Do I think this is wrong? No. But at least be honest about your intentions.
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