Room for Prayer
Texas AG takes aim at policy that has been working just fine
Since the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed school prayer in 1963, many social conservatives have made it a crusade to get religion back in the classroom.
They haven’t met with a lot of success. However, one thing that does pass constitutional muster is for a school to designate a room open to students of all faiths, where they can go to pray, meditate or simply reflect without guidance or interference from faculty and staff.
That’s just what Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas, did in 2009. The prayer room at that school is open to any student, any faith, for 30 minutes a day during teacher planning sessions.
No one has had a problem with it. Until now.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is concerned about whether or not the room is allowed under the First Amendment. He sent a letter to the school district last week about it.
Why now? Well, it seems the AG has heard that a handful of Muslim students are using the room for their daily prayers. Last year Paxton fought to keep a biblical quote in a Texas public school Christmas display. Apparently, Muslim students peacefully exercising their freedom of religion is not the kind of liberty he is willing to defend.
The school district notes it has never had a complaint since the room opened, and that students of various faiths use the room daily. The district also suggests the whole thing is a publicity stunt, with Paxton trying to create an issue where none exists for his own political reasons. Imagine that.
Paxton’s stand kind of backfired on him. Even some well-known conservative Christian leaders defend the school and its prayer room.
“I believe as long as students had equal access to the room it’s not a First Amendment issue,” Dallas First Baptist Pastor Robert Jeffress told FOX News Saturday. “I believe we really as conservatives need to be careful that we don’t pervert the First Amendment like liberals do to use it for their own agenda.”
Well said.
Liberty High students have been doing just fine on their own, practicing respect and tolerance for each other’s faith without incident and without any need of interference by headline seekers. The AG—and a lot of other folks besides—should pay attention. They could learn something from those kids.