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Prayer said in Schools
"Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country." -
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Prayer Witten/Authorized
The Board of Regents wrote/authorized a “nondenominational” prayer that the students in the schools would recite every day. The students had to say the prayer with a teacher present. The agency was created by the State Constitution and had been granted broad supervisory/executive/legislative powers over the public school system in New York. They had composed the prayer for “Statement on Moral and Spiritual Training in Schools” -
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Parents Speak Up
Parents in New York didn’t like that the Board of Regents could write a prayer and expect the students to recite it every day even if it went against their religious beliefs. If the parents hadn’t spoken up then the problem would have never been addressed. Violated First Amendment of the Constitution which commands that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"—a command which was "made applicable to the State of New York by the Fourteenth Amendment -
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Lawsuit Filed
The parents filed a lawsuit for the prayer to be banned, however the State said that in the second part of the First Amendment which allows free exercise of religion. The prayer was just an example of the free exercise, since the school wasn’t making the students say the prayer (it was optional, not mandatory) is wasn’t violating the Constitution. -
President Quote
"The world is very different now. . . . And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God." -
People Write to Newspaper
A letter to a New York newspaper, “The future of our children and the destiny of America for years to come are in this issue.”
Write or wire the honorable justices expressing concern that we acknowledge God in a non-sectarian manner by permitting prayer in the schools.
Contact friends and urge them to write also.
Pastors and Churches may want to set aside a Sunday to emphasize such issues as “God in Our National LIfe,” ect.
Special prayer groups, and pray especially on April 3, 1962 -
Trial: School Side
“With all respect, I think the Court has misapplied a great constitutional principle. I cannot see how an official religion is established by letting those who want to say a prayer say it. On the contrary, I think that to deny the wish of these school children to join in reciting this prayer is to deny them the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual heritage of our Nation.” (Justice Potter Stewart) -
Trial: Parents Side
“We think that the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that in this country it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government.” (Justice Hugo Black) -
Decision
Transcript of Court CaseThe Supreme Court ruled 7 to 1 in favor of the parents saying that it was indeed unconstitutional for a government agency to require students to recite prayers. Other sources say 6-1 because one of the justices left before the official decision was made.
