Modern Day Conservatism has become a bizarre cross between classic conservatism, radicalism and evangelical Christianity. Through right-wing radio and campaign rhetoric, the right-wing has made a number of outlandish and false statements about the Democratic party and America in general. Over the next few weeks, I'll be dedicating my diary to debunking these long standing myths.
Thursday's Myth
Myth #1: Schools have outlawed Christians from praying but encourage Muslim prayers in school.
This myth is perpetrated by a willingness to compare apples and oranges and a willful ignorance of Supreme Court decisions. In the middle of the 20th century, there were generally public schools, attended by Protestants and Catholic schools. Many Protestant schools had mandatory prayers at the beginning of the class. In 1962, a New York State Law allowed the reading of the following prayer: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country."
10 sets of parents sued New York in the Engel Vs. Vitale case. The court found that the prayer was unconstitutional. As Susan Batte writes: "Justice Black wrote the opinion for the Court which determined that compulsion - an important factor in the McCollum and Zorach cases) was not necessary to show a violation of the Establishment Clause.
. . . we think that the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that in this country it is not part of the business of government to composes official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government. ... The New York laws officially prescribing the Regents' prayer are inconsistent both with the purposes of the Establishment Clause and with the Establishment Clause itself.
It is important to stress that the Court found official prayers...to recite as part of a religious program carried on by government was unconstitutional. Only Government mandated or required programs of prayer and Bible reading violated the Establishment Clause. No other type of prayer activity was prohibited by the Engel Case."
There have been a number of attempts by states since that ruling to put prayer back into schools. American Atheists point out the fallacy of most of these movements that claim that banning prayer in schools is a violation of the freedom of religion: "Students can pray, even in schools if they choose to do so. They can pray during lunch-breaks, walking or being transported to and from the school, and of course, during their free time. School prayer advocates know this; but the real purpose of the prayer-in-school movement is to either coerce everyone into joining in prayer and religious ritual, or having official government sanction of religion. That is clearly wrong, a violation of the separation of government and religion."
Recently, Muslim rights organizations have pushed to allow Muslim students and workers to be allowed to participate in their daily prayers while at school or on the job. Devout Muslims pray five times daily. One conservative blogger for MensNewsDaily breathlessly said: "Christianity, the majority religion in the United States, is not allowed even to be spoken of in the workplace, schools and (increasingly) in any public places. Yet, in public schools it is now required that Islam (as a "religion") be taught and Christianity be denied. Are the Left and the ACLU going to back this additional Islamic lunacy? Will workplace Islamic prayer sessions be required of employers and employees, while Christianity is not only disallowed but, shunned?"
This is an example of the extreme victimhood and apples to oranges comparisons of the right.
Here is the myth debunked:
Muslims and Christians are allowed to pray in school, or anywhere else for that matter. What is not allowed is compulsory prayer or coerced prayer. If Johnny wants to sit in his seat and pray his little heart, he can. If Sally wants to go to a room to perform her daily prayers, she can. They just can't force it on anyone else.