Slightly Interesting Views On Ponder-Worthy Philosophical Prompts

Prayer in School?

21. "Should prayer be allowed in school?"

Ibis: The answer to this is the same as the answer to this question: Is change the only thing that is certain? To both, the answer is yes. 

In the Constitution(howdy, I'm an American (if you haven't already guessed XD)) it states that one is allowed the freedom of religion, meaning that one person can't say that another can't practice their religion. I have no right to go up to a Muslim and say that they can't practice their religion, just as another person couldn't come up to me and say that I could no longer believe in God. 

Now, some of you may be arguing that the government says that the separation between Church and State means that one can never practice religion in school or concerning government. However, it's very doubtful that a country founded by devoted Christians would desire the practice of worship and prayer to not be allowed, anywhere. This actually means that the Church can't control the government/state, and the state can't control the Church; both belong and take care of their own things. 

Concerning school and prayer, prayer should absolutely be allowed. A child should be allowed to pray whenever they feel like it, since it is an unalienable right and is in the first amendment of the Constitution. Now, what isn't allowed is forcing someone else to pray, or forcing one's religion on another. No one has any right to do such a thing, and if one's religion is bothering another(on an extreme level), then there may have to be some sort of retribution for such behavior. 

So, for the most part, prayer should 100% be allowed in school, as long as it's voluntary and not forced upon or bothers(within reason) anyone else. Freedom of religion, chap, is a real thing. 

Risu: So, a lot of countries have based their Constitutions off of the British Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta, including the United States. This means that their governments support Freedom of Speech (usually). Personally I find the question hilarious. "Should a country that promotes freedom of religion and freedom of speech allow students in their schools to pray to who ever they want?" or perhaps "should they be allowed to not pray if they so choose?"

It's hilarious that some schools have rules against their student's praying. What are they going to do, scan your every thought to be sure you aren't saying "thank you for this food" or "please help me to not scream at my incompetent teacher"? Honestly, do they actually expect that kids won't pray? Sure, they can try to prevent people from praying out loud, but I sure hope that every other student in the room yells at whoever is telling people they can't pray.

Most countries (France, Britain, United States) protects the citizens right to pray or not pray with the first amendment (as it is known in the United States). "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." It's pretty clear-cut. If you want to pray, go ahead. If you don't want to, then don't. 

Obviously it's more difficult when talking about private schools, they can pretty much do anything they want (rule wise) because they don't take funding from the government. Even if you do go to a private school that isn't religious based you should still be able to pray if you want to. If your private school is religious based and you don't want to pray, you shouldn't have to. We don't tell people we barely know that they have to buy a certain kind of bread because we prefer it. So why would we tell them that they have to/can't pray?

That's just my thought on the subject, hope it wasn't too sarcastic.