Prayer in Public Schools

[Dan4reason]

As a new member to this forum I'm kind of testing the waters with this one to see whether it can be discussed in a candid and CIVIL manner. I offer my word that I will never use an ad hominem argument against any opponent under any circumstance. I'm completely OK with the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on prayer in our public schools. If you're NOT OK with the law, then I'm interested in discussing it with you. I'm hoping for discussion and NOT drive-by swipes. Fair enough? Possible? I hope so.

In my opinion, the government should not conduct religious ceremonies in public schools, however, children can pray by themselves if they choose.

 

[Dan4reason]

Now why don't you find some stats on school pregnancies, teachers being assaulted, and drug use today as compared to 15 years ago. Also tell me what percentage of kids are expelled and have to go to alternate schools as compared to 15 years ago. I'll be waiting.

The fact that we have some problems in schools does not mean we should abandon our principals and condone religious ceremonies with the authority of the state. The danger in that is just too great.

 

[Danmac]

Why? Do you have any reason that we should believe any of those things would possibly have to do with the lack of school-led prayer in schools?

No, it has to do with moral corruption.

George Washington: It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.

Andrew Jackson: That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.

John Quincy Adams: So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year

Immanuel Kant: The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.

Charles Dickens: The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.

Sir William Herschel: All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths contained in the Sacred Scriptures.

Sir Isaac Newton: There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.

Goethe: Let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences progress in ever greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires; beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the gospels, it will not go.

 

[Revoltingest]

No, it has to do with moral corruption.

George Washington: It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.

Andrew Jackson: That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.

John Quincy Adams: So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year

Immanuel Kant: The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.

Charles Dickens: The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.

Sir William Herschel: All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths contained in the Sacred Scriptures.

Sir Isaac Newton: There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.

Goethe: Let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences progress in ever greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires; beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the gospels, it will not go.

Book reviews by dead guys from yore?
Unconvincing.

 

[Autodidact]

All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable person that the Bible is simply and purely of human invention of barbarian invention is to read it.
Robert Ingersoll
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." Mark Twain

Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistant that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel.
[Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason]

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived."
Isaac Asimov

You do not need the Bible to justify love, but no better tool has been invented to justify hate. – Richard A. Weatherwax

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."
- Abraham Lincoln

"There is so much in the bible against which every insinct of my being rebels, so much so that I regret the necessity which has compelled me to read it through from beginning to end."
- Helen Keller

 

[AxisMundi]

What stats are you looking for and I will provide them?

Prove your statement that "God favors some institutions".

If you are speaking on topic, private schools do indeed do much a much better job. But considering that 1. they are businesses and MUST provide good service or go out of business due to a lack of clientèle, and 2. secular private schools do just as well, if not better, your comments are mere empty rhetoric.

 

[AxisMundi]

No, it has to do with moral corruption.

George Washington: It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.

Andrew Jackson: That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.

John Quincy Adams: So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year

Immanuel Kant: The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.

Charles Dickens: The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.

Sir William Herschel: All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths contained in the Sacred Scriptures.

Sir Isaac Newton: There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.

Goethe: Let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences progress in ever greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires; beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the gospels, it will not go.

Considering that this "moral crisis" is being created and forwarded by you lot, I suggest you take it up with your fellow Christians.

BTW, love the mined, cherrypicked, and fraudlent quotes you provided, the usual mann of "debate" by your crowd.

 

[linwood]

Now why don't you find some stats on school pregnancies, teachers being assaulted, and drug use today as compared to 15 years ago. Also tell me what percentage of kids are expelled and have to go to alternate schools as compared to 15 years ago. I'll be waiting.

Actually teen birth rates AND pregnancies were down 20% at the turn of the century and experienced a slight rise in this first decade due to Republican abstinence only school curriculum.
They`re on their way back down again but I`m sure the new batch of Repubs will "fix" that pretty quick.

Teen drug use today is spurred by "legal" prescriptions unlike the days of yore when we got our dope through illegal means.

The rest of your demands are included in the violent statistics I`ve provided you.
You seem unable or unwilling to rebut them however.

Should I just assume you base your earlier stated opinion on ..."nothing"?
Because that`s what you`ve supported it with.

 

[Magic Man]

No, it has to do with moral corruption.

Right, so do you have any reason we should believe that those things have to do with a lack of official school prayer?

And I'll skip the appeals to authority in your quotes, thanks.

 

[Revoltingest]

This video is just a brief trailer, but it shows where school prayer leads.
[youtube]ggfN-tm_58M[/youtube]
YouTube - Die Hand Verletzt

In "Die Hand Die Verletzt" (the hand that injures) in the 2nd season of the X-Files,
the episode opens with the best school prayer I've ever heard. Mrs Paddock rules!

 

[averageJOE]

Now why don't you find some stats on school pregnancies, teachers being assaulted, and drug use today as compared to 15 years ago. Also tell me what percentage of kids are expelled and have to go to alternate schools as compared to 15 years ago. I'll be waiting.

Actually teen birth rates AND pregnancies were down 20% at the turn of the century and experienced a slight rise in this first decade due to Republican abstinence only school curriculum.
They`re on their way back down again but I`m sure the new batch of Repubs will "fix" that pretty quick.

Teen drug use today is spurred by "legal" prescriptions unlike the days of yore when we got our dope through illegal means.

The rest of your demands are included in the violent statistics I`ve provided you.
You seem unable or unwilling to rebut them however.

Should I just assume you base your earlier stated opinion on ..."nothing"?
Because that`s what you`ve supported it with.

I think Danmac is trying to insinuate that all those teen pregnancies, teacher assaults, and drug use is caused by atheist students. And not a single christian student is doing any of that! Oh, and simple school led christian prayer would instantly solve that problem.

 

[sfweb]

In my opinion there must be prays in every school.

As a new member to this forum I'm kind of testing the waters with this one to see whether it can be discussed in a candid and CIVIL manner. I offer my word that I will never use an ad hominem argument against any opponent under any circumstance. I'm completely OK with the U.S. Supreme Court rulings on prayer in our public schools. If you're NOT OK with the law, then I'm interested in discussing it with you. I'm hoping for discussion and NOT drive-by swipes. Fair enough? Possible? I hope so.

 

[I'ken Imagine]

In my opinion there must be prays in every school.

What do you mean? Please elaborate, sfweb.

 

[darkendless]

In my opinion there must be prays in every school.

..... and in my opinion we should ridecule religion every day in school just so we can feel elite but hey, its not going to happen.

If people want to pray, pray at home.

 

[Revoltingest]

In my opinion there must be prays in every school.

Welcome!
Does this mean that you favor forced prayer, or just that it is a good idea & should be allowed?

 

[McBell]

Prayer in Public Schools

there will always be prayer in school as long as there are tests.