nts surveyed (418). Even in the New York public school district in which the prosecutor’s children attended only twenty-nine of the four thousand five hundred students asked to be excused from the prayer (Haas 39). Most people in America favor voluntary school prayer. “To forbid the majority the right to pray because the minority objects, is to impose the irreligion of the minority on the majority (Geisler 2).” “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us our parents, our teachers, and our country,” recited students in the New York public schools (Condon 255). This prayer, known as the regent’s prayer, or one quite similar had been said in schools all over the United States for years. The prayers were not for teaching religious beliefs but merely voluntary confessions of faith (Haas 38). Since the prayer was so short it could not have possibly caused any harm. The regent’s prayer consists of twenty-two simple yet meaningful words. It required only thirty seconds to recite which was hardly enough time to mean a great deal to anyone (Haas 39). Therefore the prayer was a harmless act to nonbelievers and an important detail to those who believed. To take away the right to prayer was just like taking away a student’s religion. “At no time did we ever insist that a child should say it,” argued William Vitale, Jr. (Haas 30). No child was ever forced to say the prayer. The school board set up mechanics so no one would be compelled to say it. Those students who wanted to use their right to free speech could say the prayer and those who felt they did not want to participate did not have to. Therefore the prayer was fair to everyone.Forbidding prayer establishes the religion of secularism, which characteristically shows no belief in God, God-given morals, prayer, or the Judgment Day. The Supreme Court has affirmed that there are rel...
