Prayer in the Classroom…..

Religion seems complicated….belief can be so strong. Faith can be so positive….and it can be so divisive. People often don't see any "common" threads….but seem to only focus on the differences.

After yesterday's horror in Paris someone posted on my Facebook page that if we brought prayer back into our classrooms it would "fix" things. I wonder.

I picture a public school classroom anywhere in America….fourth or fifth graders….being told it is time to bow their heads and pray. Let's just pretend there are thirty students and do a little pretend math. Supposed twenty of them are Christian, 5 are Jewish, 3 are Muslim and 2 do not practice any religious tradition. And the teacher is Jewish.

So what prayer is presented? Which faith is celebrated? If it's a Christian prayer, how does that make the non-Christian children feel about their family traditions? How does it make them feel about the school that forces the policy? About the community in which they live? Are the Muslim children allowed time with their prayer rugs to celebrate their own heritage? Is there any support given to those children who come from homes where there is no belief in God?

If children are enrolled in a faith-based school, for instance a Catholic or Lutheran grade school, then I have no problem with starting the school day with a prayer. The parents who enroll their children in these schools expect that to be part of the curriculum….they support it. The children are all of the same tradition and the prayer will reflect their beliefs.

But I do not believe that prayer should be part of America's public school curriculum. I believe church and state, church and public school should be separate. Our culture reflects a combination of faith based traditions and honoring each of them is an American tradition…..an American right.

I watch the news. I see the horror in Paris….and I wonder just how much of this horror is faith based. Radicals. A small fundamental fringe group causing so much pain. But then every religion has a fringe element…..this one just seems to have learned to use suicide vests, grenades and rifles. A small number of people causing the entire world to sit up and take note….and to fear the future. But will prayer solve this…….I don't think so.

And then later in the day I found another post on my Facebook page….and it seemed to reflect my own feelings:

later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole
world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere