EDITORIAL:
Politicians prey on people's predisposition to pray
___Texas' governor and two would-be governors have baited their political hooks with a flashy trinket called school prayer. They should be ashamed. Their tactics are about as moral and ethical as "fishing" with dynamite.
___Unlike most political shenanigans these days, this isn't a partisan problem. The perpetrators hail from both sides of the aisle.
___Gov. Rick Perry recently prayed with students at Palestine Middle School in East Texas. The Republican governor's announced Democratic challengers, Tony Sanchez of Laredo and John WorldPeace of Austin, later said they also support some form of school prayer.
___"From my perspective, I think that a prayer life and a country that respects a higher being, our God, is a stronger country," Perry told the Austin American-Statesman in a story circulated by the Associated Press. "I believe that, and I think the vast majority of people in Texas and this country believe that."
___Most, if not all, Texas Baptists would agree. But that's not the point. This is about religious liberty for all people. The governor should know better.
___The religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution state, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Supreme Court has ruled state-mandated prayer in public schools violates the First Amendment's ban on government establishment of religion.
___This ruling has been widely and wildly misinterpreted, of course. Perhaps you have heard someone claim, "The Supreme Court threw God out of the public schools." As if the court had that kind of power. Children still may say private prayers at school. Almost any Christian educator will tell you teachers pray, too. Schools can teach about religion as long as they don't advocate, promote or denigrate religion. And, thanks to the Equal Access Act of 1984, student-initiated religious groups have the same access to campus facilities--for prayer meetings and Bible studies--as any other student organizations on campus.
___American schoolchildren, and schools themselves, enjoy broad freedom regarding religion. However, that freedom does not extend out to school-mandated prayer, such as a prayer meeting featuring the governor during a mandatory middle school assembly.
___Some people claim the ban on school-sponsored prayer reflects antagonism or even hatred toward religion. The opposite is true. People who love God and value the practice of their faith above all other freedoms remain vigilant to keep the government, including school boards, out of the regulation and administration of religion.
___If you need a reason for this principle, think for awhile about Gov. Perry's statement supporting religious tolerance: "I happen to think we all pray to the same God. I'll let the theologians split the hairs and do all those kind of things." The governor holds the highest office in the state. Theoretically, we should expect he would be at least as bright, articulate and well-informed as the average government worker. Would you want a school administrator who is as theologically ignorant as the governor monitoring or leading the religious practice of your child? Imagine calling on little Justin to pray before dinner, and he holds your hand, bows his head and begins, "To whom it may concern ..."
___Besides concern for watered-down religious ignorance, we should care about religious liberty. For almost 400 years, Baptists have contended, "To be authentic, faith must be free." Coercion, whether it's enforced by school administrators and teachers or peer pressure, does not lead to faith. Our forebears languished in prison and died in the fight for religious liberty. Certainly we can stand up to oppose forcing any brand of religion--even an absurdly bland and generic one--upon others.
___Our concern also should extend to the effects of an unholy union between church and state. On one extreme, it's not coincidental that some of the most repressive human-rights abusers today are governments solely aligned with one faith. If you think that can't happen among so-called Christian nations, remember the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and 17th century England. On the other extreme, it's also not coincidental that several of the world's most secular societies, also home to some of the world's most flaccid churches, are where government provides funding for churches.
___Beyond all this, the most galling aspect of the position taken by Perry, Sanchez and WorldPeace is that it seems to prey on people in a time of vulnerability and fear. Millions have turned to prayer since Sept. 11. Most of us are glad our politicians are praying, too. But exploitation of both fear and religious aspiration for political gain is plainly wrong. So, too, is religious coercion, a despicable tactic of the global enemies of freedom and true faith.
—By Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
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