Put God Back In Schools?

Browsing through my newsfeeds, I came across something that had me almost doing a spit take. A picture saying "Put God Back In The Schools" Similar to this one.

My first thought to this post was. WTF? I mean according to most christians beliefs God is omnipresent. Therefore, he is everywhere. So how exactly did anyone remove him from schools? Then I realised that was nothing more than a facetious response to a nonsense statement. I don't want to argue a strawman argument after all. With a little digging I was able to get to the bottom of what this really meant.

In my research I found this petition that has a rather simple description of what is meant by this statement. However, that seem to have the facts completely wrong to start with.

"This Country was founded on the principles of the bible..."

This is completely incorrect, and you only have to read the constitution to figure this out. Not to mention there are other writings by the founding fathers that specifically state the contrary. Anyways, back to the petition.

"...and since the removal of GOD and prayers from our schools, a world wind of unwanted changes have taken place. Violence has risen to horrible levels, general morals and values have been devalued, drug use and drug sales have increased tremendously, the use of profanity by children and faculty members has become the accepted language and bullying has become part of the landscape and to make matters seem all the more saddened, most children have little or no understanding of what it means to respect their elders, themselves and others. Prior to the removal of GOD and prayer from our Public Schools, our children had learning environments that were valued and appreciated by both children and parents alike and the respect levels were entirely different than they are today.  Today, our children need us to be a voice for what is best for them and their futures."

It would seem by this petition that they want prayers in school. Well, that's great. I would love to see people exercising their 1st amendment rights. However, since public schools are funded by the government it is illegal for any employee of the school district to push any religion while on the job. This makes sense if you stop to think about it. What god should they be praying to? There are many gods out there that could be prayed to. Should the teachers force the children to pray to Jehovah? No? OK, then maybe Xenu? Maybe they should be praying to the Jewish God, Allah (arabic for God), Thor, Odin, Zeus, Ra, or maybe Jupiter? There could even be prayers to The Flying Spaghetti Monster. It doesn't seem to me that praying would be such a good idea if lead by the employees of the school. However, if a student wants to pray, they can. No one is stopping them.

Later in my research I came across this idiotic article on a christian news site. I'll give you some of the highlights.

"America was a Christian nation. The Mayflower Compact declared, “In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, having undertaken – for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith …”"

I had no idea what the Mayflower Compact was. So I looked it up. Turns out it was the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony. That's right, a colony that was owned by the British. It was not a country at that point. Which is probably why they left out the rest of the line.

"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc."

While it's interesting that they are play fast a loose with the facts it's not really the point of this post. So what do they really want to do in order to put God back in schools?

"My intent is to put God, prayer and the Bible back into public schools as a principal component of education. Some experts say it would take 1) a constitutional amendment; others say 2) a simple 50 percent plus 1 vote in the House and Senate (U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 2)."

If I read that correctly they want to basically make it a federal law. Never mind the fact that a law like that would be completely against the 1st amendment. Which ironically they mention in their mission statement for the site. The students and even the parents can pray before, during, and even after school if they choose. The staff just can't be involved. Oh, and the whole Bible thing. That's simple. Take a bible to school. No student has ever been punished for having a Bible or reading it during free time. The only issue would be if the school staff is handing them out and/or making reading them mandatory.

On another christian news site I found this article. Here is the one time they mention what they mean by "Put God Back In Schools"

"Clearly, our nation needs God now more than ever. Allowing students to participate in a moment of prayer every morning is not a panacea for our nation’s problems, but it’s one step in the right direction. It’s righting an old wrong. It’s showing God a measure of repentance. It’s opening the door for Him to move in our families, our schools, and our country at a greater level."

Once again it looks like all they want is the ability to pray every morning. Well, guess what? I'm sure you got it right. They already can. The only thing that can't be done is the staff to be involved. If they really want to have a moment of prayer every morning and think it will make so much of a difference why don't they pray before they leave the house, or before the first bell rings?

Seems like they are wanting rights they already have. Just complaining to be complaining. In fact this whole things seems to go against the Bible in the first place.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." -Matthew 6:5-6

Come to think of it, doesn't the whole idea of churches go against Jesus's own words in that passage? Which in fact means the Bible, Jesus, and therefore God is calling all public christians hypocrites. Oh the irony. I might just be a guy named Rug but that's what I think.