Prayer in Schools :: Religion Faith Beliefs Essays

Prayer in Schools Recently the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would not hear the appeals of a case banning the traditional dinner prayer before the meal at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). The court decided not to hear this appeal mainly due to procedural rules regarding the retirement of the school’s former superintendent before the case, but two of the justices, Rehnquist and Scalia, felt that the case needed to be tried in order to make a determination regarding prayer in universities, especially those with military affiliation (Biskupic 3A). Unfortunately, they did not have the required number of justices to carry the case to the court, but those outside of the court system do not have such restrictions upon their decision regarding organized prayer in universities. They can make their own decisions on what to believe. One must change the general opinion of the people in order to find resolution of this issue so they in turn can prompt a revision to the Constitut ion. This may be the only true solution to clarify this problem and this revision will need the support of the public in order to succeed. Prayers and other religious elements in government will be the focus of this revision. Those who would act to ban these prayers have made the mistake of misinterpreting the original intent of the framers of the Constitution regarding the First Amendment, they have misunderstood what it means to rank among those who call themselves an adult American, and have failed to comprehend the complexities of military training. The Constitution fails to ban prayer in government run areas with conscientious Americans under the special circumstances involved with military affiliated educational institutions. The people in favor of the ban on organized prayer in colleges make the claim that the 1st Amendment makes it unconstitutional. In order to make this claim, one must analyze the text of the amendment and the history behind the original intent of the Constitutions framers. The text of the amendment contains the following concerning religion, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Constitution). This amendment should rightfully be interpreted as meaning that Congress does not have the power to regulate the religious institutions or prevent anyone from practicing their own religion.