June 26, 2000
EDITORIAL:
Decision unpopular, appropriate
___The U.S. Supreme Court handed down an unpopular yet wise decision last week. In Santa Fe Independent School District vs. Doe, the justices voted 6-3 that a policy allowing prayer over the public-address system at public high school football games is unconstitutional.
___The ruling already is notoriously unpopular. Three justices drafted a minority decision, claiming the majority's position "bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life." Conservative religious leaders and pundits decried the decision as one more example of America's slide toward godlessness. Here in the Lone Star State, where the case originated--the school district is located near Galveston--the Scripps Howard Texas Poll showed 82 percent of the state's residents believe students should be allowed to offer prayers over the public-address system before athletic events.
___Unpopularity aside, the decision is wise. It honors the First Amendment and protects religious liberty for all Americans.
___The First Amendment states, in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Both case law and the Fourteenth Amendment extend these principles beyond the federal government to state and local governments. Consequently, the First Amendment applies to the Santa Fe Independent School District.
___The court's ruling holds the Santa Fe policy violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. By providing a forum in which exposure to religious practice is compulsory--and participation at ball games is mandatory for the athletes, cheerleaders and band members--the school district established religious practice and forced it upon students. "The religious liberty protected by the Constitution is abridged when the state affirmatively sponsors the practice of prayer," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in the majority opinion.
___For most Texans, this may not seem self-evident. Many of our communities are relatively homogeneous--overwhelmingly Protestant, perhaps somewhat Catholic, but with few if any other world religions or religious dissenters evident. Still, the court's job is to uphold the Constitution, and one of the key functions of the Constitution is to protect the rights of all people.
___This seems like an unnecessary burden for many Texans, Baptists included. But Baptists' heritage includes a rich legacy of being the dissenting minority religion. Our forebears experienced persecution and oppression because they stood apart from the dominant religion. And if they lived today, they would understand the feelings of Jews, Muslims, Mormons, Buddhists and even non-believers who have been forced to endure public football prayers that violated their consciences. They would protect the minorities, for they believed that just as all Americans should be free to express their faith, they should be free not to express faith or free to express a different faith. (This does not deny Christians' evangelistic mandate; it decries government coercion in it.)
___Some claim the court's Santa Fe decision undermines the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by abridging the students' right to pray at ball games. This is not so. Advocates from across the theological and political spectrum agree students and fans may pray at ball games. Athletes may huddle and pray before and after games. Students may say prayers aloud in the stands as long as they don't broadcast them with school equipment. All participants may utilize a moment of silence to pray. These are more likely to be heartfelt prayers than the "to whom it may concern" variety previously heard in many football stadiums.
___Indeed, let us use the occasion of the court's decision, popular or not, to redouble our commitment to pray for our schools-- for students, teachers and staff. Our schools, our communities, need prayer. No court or legislative body can tell us we cannot pray.
___Beyond that, let us build in our children a strong and vibrant sense of faith. It's our job, not the school's. Let's do our homework. I like what new Southern Baptist Convention President James Merritt said: "We have people alarmed because they won't let them hang the Ten Commandments on the walls at school, but how many hang them on the walls of their homes? Parents are up in arms because students can't pray in schools, but they don't teach them to pray in the home."
___Faith learning begins at home. Let us raise up our children to be people whose faith and prayer lives are as natural as breathing.
___ Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
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