Another school shooting in the news, the spread of lawlessness from teenagers in the streets to passengers on a plane, and laws being proposed to ban drag queen shows have collectively resurrected the call for prayers to be put back in our schools - but would returning prayers to schools restore civility in America?
The idea of getting prayers back in schools is a simplistic, and unrealistic, idea proposed mostly by the political right - but this is nothing new. Since I began doing talk radio in the early 90s - I have heard the general criticism that America began a drastic downfall the moment the U.S. Supreme Court banned prayers in schools, and the pleading to return prayers to schools has been ramping up.
During tragedies or difficult times, Americans tend to seek for the most tangible solution to the problem and passionately promote that solution as the answer. Putting prayers back in schools is a popular solution because it is simple and it vicariously blames liberals for the health of society.
Let’s begin with the notion that it was the Supreme Court decision removing
prayers from schools that is the reason for all that’s wrong with America.
In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled 6 - 1 in the case of Engel v. Vitale that public
school teachers or administrators - as employees of the federal government - could not recite prayers. That ruling also implied that if Christian prayers were allowed to be recited - then Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and all denominations of Christianity would also be required inclusion in prayers in schools.
For the record - the Supreme Court never banned prayers in public schools - the Court’s ruling only stated that teachers and employees of schools could not lead a prayer. To this day students can pray while at school.
While it may have become a convenient political solution to America’s problems - the removal of school-led prayers was not a solo act that launched America on a downward spiral. There were countless influences and changes happening in America prior to the Supreme Court decision to ban prayers in schools.
In the mid-to-late 50s - rock "n" roll in America became the soundtrack for a young generation’s break from traditional American culture. Rock "n" roll was deemed primitive and sexual. The establishment feared the influence of Elvis and Black artists like Little Richard and Chuck Berry, who brought White and Black young Americans together in a choreographed expression of sexuality.
The sight of White and Black teenage girls responding to rock "n" roll’s sensual beat was shocking to the establishment. So concerned about the sensual influence of Elvis Presley - CBS ordered Elvis to be shown on camera only from the waist up during his appearances of The Ed Sullivan Show.
By the late-50s - the popularity of rock "n" roll was seen as a threat to the stability of society and the sexual suggestive nature of the music was viewed as a challenge to God. There was moral panic in America.
By the late-50s - censorship was easing; and the content of music, movies, and TV shows changed. Premarital sex and extramarital affairs became more pronounced in the young generation. Artificial birth control - the pill - was condemned as a catalyst for a new and free attitude about sex. The science behind the pill was discovered in 1953, and it was approved for use among the masses by 1960.
The establishment fought the moral battle to make the pill illegal and 5 years later the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut that based on the right to privacy any banning of the pill was unconstitutional.
The introduction of the birth control pill in 1960 created a societal earthquake with young people feeling the new freedom to have casual sex and the establishment lamented about a new moral vacuum in America. In addition to the changes inspired by rock "n" roll and the pill - 1960 was the year of
the Civil Rights Act of 1960 - which closed gaps in the Civil Rights Act of
1957.
Great changes were occurring in American society by 1960 - plus - the
instability and paranoia caused by the Cold War between the United States and Russia and the 1960 presidential campaign between Richard Nixon - the established Republican - and the younger Democrat John Kennedy - were more indications that a major shift was occurring in America.
With all of the dramatic changes happening in America in the 50s leading to 1960 - it is impossible to blame what many believe as the downfall of America on the single act of the Supreme Court decision to ban public school-led prayers.
The political rhetoric behind blaming the banning of Christian prayers in public
schools for America’s biggest threats today is an attempt to find a simple solution to a complex problem and the convenience of blaming the banning of school prayers is another way of blaming liberals for this country’s current path. Liberals own much blame for many of America’s negative trends - but the removal of school-led prayers in public schools is not the reason for all that’s wrong with America today.
We have become so focused on blaming the other side for America’s woes that we are missing opportunities to define and solve the real problems.
