Weekly Poll: Should Schools Have a Moment of Silence?
Weekly Poll: Should Schools Have a Moment of Silence? Thursday October 14, 2010 Courts have firmly established that public schools cannot mandate or even recommend that students pray. In place of prayer, some try to have schools enforce a “moment of silence” at the beginning of the day. Is this just a way to get around official prayers and should it be banned? Perhaps the first question we should ask is: what is the purpose of a “moment of silence”? If it is to encourage prayer, then it is impermissible — the government has no authority to single out a particular time during the day and recommend this time to children for silent prayers. If the purpose is not for prayer, then why does it look so much like prayer? What is the origin of this amazing coincidence? Laws mandating a “moment of silence” in public schools are a tricky issue to deal with. Worded properly, and taking in isolation, it’s easy for them to meet basic legal standards and thus be found constitutional. The problem, of
Courts have firmly established that public schools cannot mandate or even recommend that students pray. In place of prayer, some try to have schools enforce a “moment of silence” at the beginning of the day. Is this just a way to get around official prayers and should it be banned? Perhaps the first question we should ask is: what is the purpose of a “moment of silence”? If it is to encourage prayer, then it is impermissible — the government has no authority to single out a particular time during the day and recommend this time to children for silent prayers. If the purpose is not for prayer, then why does it look so much like prayer? What is the origin of this amazing coincidence? Laws mandating a “moment of silence” in public schools are a tricky issue to deal with. Worded properly, and taking in isolation, it’s easy for them to meet basic legal standards and thus be found constitutional. The problem, of course, is context: these laws aren’t created for completely neutral reasons by
