Page 29 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable
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              With the success of the lawsuit, the intent of the Constitution with regard to the relationship between church and
              state again came under critical scrutiny and has remained there to this day. The lawsuit disallowed schools from
              including prayer as a compulsory activity required of every student. The success of O'Hair's lawsuit led to
              subsequent lawsuits by Mormon and Catholic families in Texas in 2000 to limit compulsory prayer at school
              sponsored football games. Even the discussion of God in the schools has become unwelcome truth.

              This Supreme Court ruling in 1963 argued that the founding fathers wanted a “wall of separation between church and
              state.” It was the Pilgrims who were trying to obtain religious freedom from England. It was not that they didn’t
              believe in God. Therefore, the government should be neutral to religion in schools.  But as a result the Warren
              Court ruled that there would be no prayer in school or Bible reading. The court's “majority ruling” reasoned that
              being neutral or not favoring one religion over another was the same as not allowing religious practices in
              school. True neutrality would not favor one religion over another, but the court's ruling favored atheism over all
              the religions of the world that believe in God. Atheism has been declared a religion by the U.S. Supreme Court,
              so the Court did not act neutrality, but instead favored atheism over religion. A recent national poll indicated
              85% of Americans believe in the existence of God, yet the court ruled with the minority, atheist.  If the Court
              had really been true to its intention of neutrality, it would have been impartial to the students, by neither forcing
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              non-believers to pray, nor prohibiting believers from prayer. Nevertheless it ruled in favor of atheism.
              Remember, none of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were atheists. The Pilgrims wanted religious
              freedom from the ruling government. So, when the U. S. Constitution was written, “Congress shall make no law
              respecting an establishment of religion” was included for this purpose. It was written to stop our new government from
              one day saying this or that is the “OFFICIAL” religion. It was for establishment of religion, not religious
              establishment. In 1534, it was the Act of Supremacy which made King Henry VIII the head of the Church of
              England. Basically it declared that the Pope had no authority on British soil and said that English subjects had to
              belong to the newly organized Church of England. Now, many people did not want to be forced into any such
              religion. So, even though many protestant religions did not recognize the Pope, they still joined with the
              Catholics in fleeing to the New World. This was to escape being “drafted” into this Church of England by the
              King. They came to America to worship in their own faith without fear of retribution by England.

              First Amendment


              The “separation of church and state” is a fundamental premise of the United States Constitution. You may be
              surprised that this question is important enough to be considered by the Supreme Court. After all, the Pilgrims
              left England to escape religious persecution in 1620 and people have been coming to America in search of
              religious freedom ever since. The Supreme Court said prayers broadcast before public school football games
              violate this constitutionally required separation of government and religion. The issue is not whether individual
              students can pray before the game-- they can. This case asked whether a student led prayer could be broadcast to
              everyone at a sporting event. It all came down to the way the justices interpreted the First Amendment to the
              Constitution. This amendment sets out the principles regarding religion, speech, press, assembly, and petitioning.
              Basically, it protects our right to worship as we want, say what we want, publish what we want, gather in groups,
              and make our concerns known to the government. It also prohibits the government from identifying with a
              particular religion. It effectively separates church and state. The Supreme Court serves to clarify, refine and test
              the ideals written into the Constitution. It was the first time the court considered a major ruling on school prayer.
              In 1992, the courts barred religious prayers at graduation ceremonies.


              Two families filed a lawsuit against the Santa Fe, Texas school district over the prayers. The identities of the two
              families who filed the lawsuit -- one Catholic and one Mormon were sealed by the courts. Their lawsuit alleged
              that the school district's policy of allowing students to lead prayers at home football games violated the First
              Amendment by creating a religious atmosphere and a lower court agreed in principle. A federal appeals court
              ruled that student led prayers that are “nonsectarian” which are not limited to one specific religion and “non-
              proselytizing” that do not attempt to convert are allowed at graduations. But, the banned before football games
              ruling the court said aren't serious enough to be “solemnized with prayer.” The school district responded to the
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