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| Yes | 56% | 35 votes | Total: 62 votes | |
| No | 44% | 27 votes |
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Add to FavoritesThe idea that mandatory moments of silence in school are anything but backdoor attempts to reinstate state sponsored prayer are ridiculous. The Lemon standard, used to determine if the church and state are being entangled, lists its first standard as: Is there any legitimate secular purpose? Is there any secular purpose for a moment of silence? No. Silent Reflection and Student Prayer should not be mandatory, it should not even be an option. There are plenty of opportunities for children to pray or reflect privately without dedicating classtime to it. It does not matter what these kids use this moment for, it has no place in the classroom. If kids absolutely need to pray then they should take care of it before class, in between classes, after class, in meetings with various clubs they may be involved in, etc. Since 1962, when state sponsored prayer was taken out of schools, Christians have been trying to backdoor through these ridiculous moment of silence laws. When people complain they whine that the minority is trying to control the majority again. How about we stick to the law and ask ourselves what this moment of silence accomplishes? Nothing, meanwhile we have serious problems in schools that need to be addressed. Maybe if our lawmakers weren't so busy trying to appease their Christian base with these veiled attempts at reintroducing religion into the classroom these more serious problems might be addressed more quickly. A moment of silence has one purpose, to allow kids to pray in the classroom. Not every kid needs it, nor would they be upset if it wasn't there. This argument has nothing to do with the kids and everything to do with parents beliefs. Eliminating the whole thing would not only stop this nonsense, i.e. tying up the courts with lawsuits challenging the law (which win quite often). Nobody is fooled by the rhetoric, this is religion trying to intrude in the class. We have a seperation of church and state for a reason, and nobody in the world is telling kids not to believe how they want to, whether it be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Atheist, whatever. These battles just belong out of the school systems, religious clubs are allowed to form (if they aren't then they should be), and kids have numerous chances to pray or "reflect" throughout the day. So why the fuss? By making this law voluntary it gives communities and teachers the choice of whether or not to allow this to happen. If you want it at your school, knock yourself out, go to your local school board (or better yet run for school board and get involved) and ask for it to be instituted. The state, however should not sanction these attempts at reintroducing school prayer.
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No
The Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act is not intended to be solely a religious act, hence the first part of the title "Silent Reflection..." It is my understanding that silent reflection isn't considered a religious action. If children want to silently pray in the name of their individual religions then this should not be an issue. Praying silently isn't an assault on anyone's privacy, personal space or religious affiliation. Sitting quietly for a period of time doesn't violate anyone's moral ground or beliefs. Case in point, one must sit quietly in a library so as not to disturb other readers. If we as a society can accept this rule thrust upon us in the name of common courtesy then surely we can sit quietly for a few minutes in the beginning of class to calm our minds and prepare ourselves for a day of successful learning and test taking.
That being said, for the silent reflection act to work, it cannot be voluntary. You can't have some children sitting quietly, while others mill around and chat. The noise from the children choosing to not to sit silently, would disrupt those trying to pray or meditate; as would children being allowed to use a library as a social hang out spot would disrupt the children who are there to read and perform research.
Those trying to make an issue out of this act are simply trying to further their cause by implying that this act would somehow violate their rights to not be religiously affiliated. Sitting silently for a minute each day, does not a bible thumper make. If the idea of Atheism is so fragile that an impressionable child of Atheist parents can be religiously converted simply from hearing the sound of "silence" for one minute, then I would hate to know what their little minds would pick up from sitting quietly in a movie theatre for 2 hours listening to and watching a violent movie.
I submit to you that any opposition to this act is purely political in nature. There is absolutely no reason that this act should be considered a violation of the separation of church and state rule. To think that sitting silently will somehow lead to religion is silly. Even if a teacher suggests that the students pray during the moment of silence, it is simply a suggestion and anyone not wanting to pray won't be penalized for it. Who's to say a child is praying anyway....it's a moment of silence, who knows what the child is really doing while waiting to begin class? If a child chooses to sit quietly and think about the new level he conquered on his video game last night, then who's going to know, really?
Please, lets think before we react. If we make a big deal out of every little thing in an attempt to further our causes, then eventually our protests will fall on deaf ears. It's like crying wolf, eventually no one will respond to your concerns. We must pick our battles and learn not to be petty.
Learn more about this author, Inquisitive Fairy.
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