My Kids Can't Pray in School!

[blueinindiana]

I am so sick of hearing that crap.
Kids have plenty of time to 'Pray' in school.

1) Pray BEFORE class starts
2) Pray BETWEEN classes
3) Pray at LUNCH
4) Pray at RECESS (If elementary)
5) Pray at STUDY HALL (If you take it)

These freaks don't care about praying they just want to push their fake version of morality on everyone else and have the Government do the work for them.



F--- all of you!

May you all burn in your own version of hell!

[depakid]

1. On exams days

You'll see plenty of kids praying in school....;-)

[wakeme2008]

24. That is soooooo true

:rofl:

[Goblinmonger]

2. Hell, pray during class

If you aren't disrupting other students, nobody can stop you. Nobody should really even know, I would guess.

[kestrel91316]

32. Especially since JESUS specifically said that the proper way to pray

is to go into a closet alone and pray silently.

There is absolutely no need for "Christians" to make a spectacle of prayer. It's unscriptural, to say the least.

[NMMNG]

40. Since when do they pay attention to scripture?

At least any part that doesn't involve hating others, forcing others to do stuff, or them getting something at the expense of others?

[China_cat]

3. Kids can pray in school any time, any where.

What they can't do is disrupt a class to do so or force others to join them.

[Randypiper]

4. My Kids aren't learning algebra at church.

[Telly Savalas]

8. Whoops, I'm a little slow.

[annabanana]

5. No one can stop you from praying if you want to...

If you believe that Jesus hears prayers, there's no reason why he can't hear the ones you don't say out loud.

[Telly Savalas]

6. My kids can't do their math homework at church!!!

[lindisfarne]

35. Why not? n /t

[me b zola]

37. Why would they?

I don't go to the grocery store and look for a video poker machine. I know where to find those if that is what I want to do, but I go to the grocery store to buy groceries. I don't go to the auto dealer to buy shrimp, I don't go to 7-11 to buy John Dean's book, Conservatives Without Conscience, and I don't go to the liquer store when my dog is sick and needs medical care.

Do you see a pattern here?

[lindisfarne]

38. Well, I used to do my math homework at swim meets, used to read

(and study) while standing in line at the store (always had my foreign language flashcards in a pocket to fill dead time), etc. I would have no problem with a child doing their math homework at church, especially if they didn't really want to be there but had to be there because I was there and there was no one at home to watch the child.

[me b zola]

41. But here's the thing

Did you announce that you were doing your homework at the swim meets (btw, I was a swimmer...:thumbsup:)? I'm guessing that was something that you did without forcing it upon anyone else. If a child were to do there homework while at church, I would assume that they did not go to church for the soul purpose of doing it there, nor is that child announcing (forcing) their learning assignments to the other worshipers.

Me, I pray all over the place, in the car, standing in line...where ever...but no one knows that I am. It is a personal thing that I may(or may not) share with my family or others who believe as I do, but it would lose it's meaning for me to pronounce it to people who don't give a rat's behind. If I want to pronounce my prayers, if I am looking for an audience, I do so at home or at a church--not at Midas Muffler Shop.

[lindisfarne]

42. Well, yes, I agree with all you say. I was only questioning why your child

*couldn't* do their math homework in church. Obviously, it wouldn't be done in a manner which interrupts others' worship.

[Sperk]

7. I guess these liberal public schools must have mind reading teachers

they can tell when a kid is saying a silent prayer....oh wait a minute....that defeats the whole purpose....must have everyone around you KNOW you are praying and they pretty much should be praying with you.

[Liberal Veteran]

12. What is odd to me, is that Jesus forbade the kind of prayer fundies want

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. {6} "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

[electron_blue]

14. Yes, you're right. These people are just the sort of people Jesus warned

us about.

[Clark2008]

17. You know, that one floors me, too.

Jesus would throw out the lot of these fundies for their actions, just as he did the money-changers in the temple.

He did not appreciate, tolerate or accept the blending of Church and State.

"They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." Matthew 22:21

[lindisfarne]

36. Thank you for that verse ... n/t

[CAG]

18. Fundies don't like to talk about those first 4 books in the new testament

Jesus screws up their message too much

[kath]

20. Yes indeedy. And something they REALLY hate is the Sermon on the Mount

and all that "whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers" crap. Kinda goes against all that hatred and bigotry they love to spew.

[FUGW]

23. Who could expose hypocrites better than Christ? Great post L.V.

[Initech]

9. Dont forget that there's plenty of unintentional praying in schools...

"Dear god, please let me pass this test!! Please!!!!"

[Liberal Veteran]

10. The real problem is the the radical fundies are incapable...

...of understanding the difference between active and passive religious expression. Praying quietly to yourself, wearing a cross, and many other passive expressions are totally okay.

[bperci108]

22. You got it.

What they want is for prayer to be led by the teacher.

None of them think about the details, and the devil is always in the details (yes - bad pun intended).

First off, what religion?

Protestant Christianity?

Roman Catholicism?

Eastern Orthodox Christianity?

Islam?

Hinduism?

Buddhism?

Sikhism?

Wiccan?

etc.

The problems just grow exponentially from there...


Do these brainstems even bother to think about these things???

Uh....never mind; I forgot that they don't think - that's most of the problem. :eyes:

Can you imagine the hue and cry if a Wiccan teacher was leading his/her class in a
Wiccan prayer when word reached the local Fundamentalist House of Profit? :nuke:

[PADemD]

26. We had that problem

back in the late 50's/early 60's when there was still morning bible reading in school. The Catholic kids had to read from a Catholic bible, and the Jehovah's Witnesses didn't want any readings at all.

[bperci108]

34. Precisely why religious instruction of ANY kind.....

...belongs at home, the church, the synagogue, the temple, the meeting house, the mosque, etc. not the schoolhouse.

The public school belongs to ALL of us and ALL of us are not of the same faith, indeed some have no faith at all, and they are deserving of the same respect as everyone else.

:rant:

[FUGW]

11. Yea but they want everyone else to have to watch, what good is

praying to their god if no one sees them do it.

[Jo March]

15. Welcom to DU, FUGW

:hi:

[FUGW]

16. Thanks, I hope I don't make you regret saying that.

:D

[Jo March]

31. Eh

I welcome one and all. ;)

[partylessinOhio]

13. With the state of the world today I believe a little too many "prayers"

have us on the brink of a nuclear war and destruction. Who are you going to argue with when everyone is dead?

[FUGW]

19. It's not that they believe they are talking to God that is the problem,

it's that they believe God is talking back to them. It's a lot like Taretts syndrome, it never makes any one say nice things about someone just bad things.

[RB TexLa]

21. Children can pray at anytime they want

Freedom of religion is a basic human right. If they are praying at a time they are in school most simply state that they can not "disrupt the education process." Pretty simple, you can't jump up in front of the class while the teacher is talking and start reciting the Rosary, but one could sure pray without speaking all class long.

[madrchsod]

25. jesus said to pray in a dark room........

he wasn`t much for people publicly showing off their belief in the lord...he wanted people to shut up and do good works

[Warren DeMontague]

27. What the problem really is: "I can't force YOUR kids to pray in school!"

Help, Help, I'm being repressed!

[LWolf]

28. Kids can pray all damned day long

as long as they aren't praying out loud.

Many groups seem to think that loud, public prayer is somehow a way of being a cheerleader for your faith. It's kind of a passive/aggressive way to assert control, or to argue about whose faith is "right," or "better," or who is more "devout." :puke:

If prayer is talking to a diety, anyone can do it anywhere, any time. If it is silent, without the physical role-playing in order to attract everyone's attention and say "look at me, I'm praying," it won't distract anyone or disrupt anything going on at school with those not praying at that moment. If it is really about communicating with diety, why should anyone care if other people know about it? Is the diety so weak that he/she can't "hear" the prayer without all the theater? Or is the diety, and the communication, an afterthought in the process, and the public display the real point?

Of course, we could always look at what Christ said about prayer in Matthew 6, verses 6-13:

<snip>

Matthew chapter 6:

But thou, when thou prayest enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut the door, pray to the Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

[whistle]

29. Is that a new commandment by Jesus, " F___ all of you!"?

...As I understand what Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount was:

“You have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’ But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council, and whoever says ‘Fool’ will be sent to fiery hell” (Matthew 5:21-22).190

...Besides when are children actually denied the opportunity to pray as Jesus suggested:

“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:5-6).

...Perhaps by your own example, your children choose not to pray. How about showing them by your own teaching how it should be done rather than doing what Jesus warned us against doing in prayer:

Be careful about not living righteously merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven (Matthew 6:1).

[SoCalDem]

30. Fundies want "Teacher-led" & approved prayer..OUTLOUD and in

unison..and on LOUDspeakers..

That's all they want :)

[rucky]

33. In my classroom, I have two rules:

1) maintain a positive and productive learning environment
2) respect yourself and others

Praying in class breaks both rules.

[NMMNG]

39. They can also pray during class all they want

So long as it is silent.

[steely]

43. I can tell you - we prayed in school, and then they cancelled it.

I didn't miss a thing.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

44. Most fundie parents are too young to remember pre-1962

so it's easy to convince them that there was a time when schoolchildren prayed and read the Bible on a regular basis with no one objecting.

Not quite.

Some parts of the country did have school prayer, including New York and other Eastern states, where the stated purpose was to inculcate "Protestantism" in the large numbers of Catholic and Jewish immigrants, and in the South, where the religious spectrum in most communities ran all the way from Methodist to Baptist.

But the Midwest had no school prayer, nor did the West Coast.

I was in elementary school when the Supreme Court decision banned school prayer, and (despite having grown up in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where it seemed that everyone was either Lutheran or Catholic) I was astonished that anyone had prayer in school.