Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe and Religious prayer in American Public Schools
Religious prayer in Public schools has become very fascinating topic for my research because from hither to society, the conflict between religion and state government has been a very important issue across the globe. The countries which were very much radical on religious issues for decades also have been adopting very secular thought and claim themselves a part of global community. However, the constant conflict between the state and religion has been always in existence particularly in public school education. During the 14th Century, the education system in the west was primarily dominated by Christianity. The rule of Pope dominated the rule of the state for a long time. The voice of secularism was noticeably marginal. Getting inspiration from the same point, I have published a book entitled “Affirmation of communal Strength” in 2002 researching artistic works written from subaltern point of view. As I joined John Hopkins University, Prof. Rembold Law class inspired me to research on one of the topics that deals with religion in public school.
The first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that says: ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof clearly defines the secular state policy’. These two provisions are commonly referred to as the ‘religion clauses.’ The ‘Establishment Clause’ prohibits government from promoting or opposing religion. In the mean time, the ‘Free Exercise Clause’ protects the right to believe in and practice religion. However, it is sometime very ambiguous in certain situation to pinpoint whether governmental involvement in particular situation is a promotion of religion or interference against religion. The judicial interpretation of clauses in different context and situation is very interesting and logistic that embodies the spirit of first amendment. In this light I critically observed almost 50 years major issues from McCollum v. Board of Education (March 8, 1948) to Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (June 19, 2000) that deals with religion in public school system. Out of 18 ruling of Supreme Court and hundreds more of the lower federal and state court projects the secular stands point of the government. Among these all ruling, I find Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (June 19, 2000) case very controversial to observe from the perspective of establishment and constitutional clause. The court invalidated a school district’s policy allowing an elected student to lead pre-game prayers over the school stadium’s public address system. The Court reaffirmed the importance of protecting religious minorities from majority rule. “Fundamental rights may never be submitted to vote,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority, “they depend on the outcome of no elections.” Gillentine author and a long time moderator of the Oklahoma and Mississippi state associations in a journal ‘Prayer at Atheletic Events’ opines, “In general, court cases hold that prayer is acceptable if it is student initiated and led without being promoted or endorsed by school officials and consider prayer to be a violation of the First Amendment if it is sponsored, prompted, or endorsed by school officials. However Gillentine argument contrasts on this case if we ignore the context. Therefore, the research paper will deal with this issue considering the epoch, history and environment on which basis t, My paper, moreover, will analyze the context on which basis student’s initiated prayer was invalidated. Moreover, I will comparatively study the major cases including Engel V. Vitale, Abington Township V. Schempp, Wallace v. Jaffree and many other previous courts decision on school prayerReligious prayer in Public schools has become very fascinating topic for my research because from hither to society, the conflict between religion and state government has been a very important issue across the globe. The countries which were very much radical on religious issues for decades also have been adopting very secular thought and claim themselves a part of global community. However, the constant conflict between the state and religion has been always in existence particularly in public school education. During the 14th Century, the education system in the west was primarily dominated by Christianity. The rule of Pope dominated the rule of the state for a long time. The voice of secularism was noticeably marginal. Getting inspiration from the same point, I have published a book entitled “Affirmation of communal Strength” in 2002 researching artistic works written from subaltern point of view. As I joined John Hopkins University, Prof. Rembold Law class inspired me to research on one of the topics that deals with religion in public school.
Questions:
How those eighteenth-century words are never been uncontested? Are these words represents the embodiment of the final truth forever in US constitution? Should the religion clauses apply only to the federal government, or to state and local governments, too?
How federal case look upon the community values regarding the prayer at football games in its verdict?
What does strongly worded majority opinion symbolizes for the future cases of similar nature?
Does this verdict declare devotional practices on other school- sponsored activities outside the classroom unconstitutional?
Why did two U.S. courts of appeals render opposite opinions devotional practices on Adler v. Duval Country school Board case?
Are schools intentionally engaged in religious activities prohibited by the Court?
Work Citation
Gillentine, A., et.al., Prayer at Atheletic Events. Strategies v. 18 no. 1(September/Ocotover 2004) p. 13-15
McGuire, Kevin. "Public Schools, Religious Establishments, and the U.S. Supreme Court." American Politics Research, 37.1 (2009): 50-74.
School prayer guide gets mixed reviews[Guidelines issued by Dept. of Education]. The Christian Century v. 120 no. 5(March 8 2003) p.16
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