The issue of religion and the role it has played in public education is shrouded in myth and misinformation, some of it spread deliberately by Christian Nationalist organizations.
The issue is becoming more prominent lately as Christian Nationalist organizations are pushing the envelope in various ways. Thankfully, Americans United is pushing back – and winning.
Facts are inconvenient things to Christian Nationalists. But they still matter. Today, let’s take a quick look at some facts about how common official prayer and Bible reading were in public schools.
To hear Christian Nationalists tell it, every public school in America had school-sponsored prayer and Bible reading every day until the Supreme Court struck these practices down in 1962 and ’63.
In fact, school-sponsored prayer and Bible reading occurred in some states but not others. And in those states that allowed formal prayer/Bible reading, the practices were controversial. In 1844 in Philadelphia, people rioted after conflict erupted between Catholics and Protestants about which version of the Bible would be read in schools. Churches were burned, and several people were killed. It took the militia to restore order.
It should be noted that in the 19th century, public schools – then known as “common schools” – were not widespread. Only a few states had laws requiring attendance at schools; many children did not attend schools.
That began to change in the 20th century, and as a result, debates about the role of religion in public schools increased. Practices varied. In 1960, two years prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the first school prayer case, Engel v. Vitale, Americans United undertook a survey of the states and found that only five had laws on the books requiring daily Bible reading. An additional 25 states allowed “optional” school-sponsored Bible reading. Courts in 11 states had declared the practice unconstitutional. The remaining states had no laws on the books.
In the states that had laws requiring religious exercises, many of the statutes were of recent vintage. They were put in place after a lobbying campaign launched by the National Reform Association, a proto-Christian Nationalist group that sought to establish conservative Protestant Christianity as the de facto religion of the country. The group also unsuccessfully pushed for rewriting the preamble to the Constitution to add references to Jesus Christ, Christianity and God.
The so-called “Regents prayer” that became the subject of litigation in the Engel case didn’t exist prior to 1955. Supposedly non-denominational, the prayer was composed by the New York Board of Regents, a statewide school board, in consultation with some religious leaders. (You can read more about the Engel case here.)
Like so many other artifacts of “civil religion,” from this era (“In God We Trust” being named the national motto, “under God” slipped into the Pledge of Allegiance, etc.) the Regents prayer wasn’t really about spirituality. It was yet another reaction to fears of “godless communism.”
Christian Nationalists claim that we had prayer in schools for a long time with no problems. Even a cursory look at the history shows this isn’t true. Government-mandated religion was problematic from day one, and many of the laws codifying it aren’t nearly as old as many people believe.
Students can pray in public schools if it’s a voluntarily chosen act and not coercive. Americans United has pointed this out repeatedly over the years. We’ve also debunked the false history and lies about this issue.
Facts do still matter, at least to thoughtful Americans. And when it comes to prayer in public schools, the facts show once again, that Christian Nationalists simply have no idea what they’re talking about.
