Bridget--prayers to who? to which flavor/version of god? Jesus or jehovah or buddha? or one of the hindu gods?
my kids when to school with christians, jews, budist, and hindus. to which version of god should they pray to?
If you want to pray in school, fine, but don't expect me to support "school prayer". If parent want "school prayer" go to a private religious school. School prayer is a slippery slope. And yes i know that there is "Prayer" in some political institutions-- but that is Adults-- kids have enough pressure.
How would you feel about school prayer if the majority of student/teachers in your school district where muslims, and you said prayers from the Koran? -- If your kids where forced to start the day praying to a Hindu god-- does than sit okay with you? but somehow, its okay to force muslims and hindus to pray to jesus, right?
I do think, and most public schools shy away from this, is starting in 5th or 6th grade (10 to 12 years olds) a course on comparative religions. Let kid learn about the idea of religion, and why it continues to exist, and why one single religion is not taught in school. they learn about other "cultures" in social studies, but religion is a big part of culture, and almost never covered.
Let them learn too, about all the evil done in the name of religion-- Pick any one and you can find evil done in religions name. many "christian" churches supported slavery, and "jim crow" in US-- just as bad as catholic church "Spanish inquisition"-- or Hindu caste system. Religions might have done more good than evil, but there is no one "perfect" religion-- and not all the world agrees that there is even one god-- so until then, no school prayer!
