Oct 26 2007
Atheist Challenges Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act
Illinois Atheist Rob Sherman and his daughter Dawn filed suit today in U.S. District Court to challenge the constitutionality of the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act, that requires state schools to observe a moment of silence each day. The act goes into effect next Tuesday as follows:
(105 ILCS 20/1) (from Ch. 122, par. 771)
7 Sec. 1. In each public school classroom the teacher in
8 charge shallmayobserve a brief period of silence with the
9 participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the
10 opening of every school day. This period shall not be conducted
11 as a religious exercise but shall be an opportunity for silent
12 prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated activities
13 of the day.
What I find very interesting in this act is the contradiction between “shall not be conducted as a religious exercise” and in the same sentence “but the opportunity for silent prayer.” If the purpose was indeed to give “silent reflection” the act would state “silent reflection” without references to prayer. Silent reflection could be prayer or daydreaming, or meditation, or sleep… Instead, the Illinois state legislators have chosen to mention prayer both in the title of the act and in the description.
Sherman’s says, “the obvious purpose of the law is to get more prayer into the public school classroom, in clear violation of all three prongs of the “Lemon Test” three-part Supreme Court standard for state/church separation. ” He also claims the sponsors of the act are Senator James Meeks, pastor of Salem Baptist Church, Senator Jacqueline Collins, a minister at Saint Sabina Catholic Church, and Representative LaShawn Ford, member of the Saint Martin de Porris Catholic Church Parish Council and Finance Committee.
According to Sherman his daughter says, “she will not tolerate her education being damaged by having the public school cause her first-period biology class to have ‘more religion, less science.’”
This battle is going to be a hard one for Sherman particularly because of the disclosure stating the reflection period will not be conducted as a religious exercise.
According to Chicago Tribune, “The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois did not sign onto the lawsuit. Spokesman Ed Yohnka declined to explain the reasoning beyond noting the statute’s dual focus on meditation or prayer. A moment of silence during the school day is not legally objectionable, Yohnka said. A moment of prayer is. The legal distinction, however thin, is significant.”
So it appears that the Illinois legislators found a very subtle way to get prayer into public schools, under the umbrella of “reflection.” We can’t object to it because it’s not just prayer, it’s reflection. But what I can’t understand is why isn’t the act called “silent reflection act,” why does it have to specifically name prayer as one of the activities to be done during this reflection period? And what does prayer have to do with the “anticipated activities of the day”? Oh, and here’s another one, why do we need a law to get kids to reflect?
Here is a Sherman interview on the matter:
6 responses so far
[...] PERSONAL TRAINER wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThis battle is going to be a hard one for Sherman particularly because of the disclosure stating the reflection period will not be conducted as a religious exercise. According to Chicago Tribune, “The American Civil Liberties Union of … [...]
[...] oblenest wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptSherman’s says, “the obvious purpose of the law is to get more prayer into the public school classroom, in clear violation of all three prongs of the “Lemon Test” three-part Supreme Court standard for state/church separation. … [...]
What is just as scary as this forced ‘moment of silent’ and its implicit intent of promoting spirituality in state run school is the fact that it was there as an ‘option’, silently lurking, in violation of separation of church and state all along. At least this change brought it out into the open where maybe it can be destroyed once and for all.
[...] wrote an interesting post today on Atheist Challenges Silent Reflection and Student Prayer ActHere’s a quick [...]
Goprairie, that’s a very interesting comment. When I looked up the act, I noticed the word “may” was crossed out and replaced by “shall.” How ironic if this would be indeed the downfall of the act….
It amazing to me how much time our lawmakers spend trying to circumvent the constitution (federal law). Then they wonder why some people have no respect for the law. Perhaps our leaders could spend time setting a better example, like by actually passing a budget, you know their main responsibility.