Can a school lead a Christian prayer for its employees?

No. Not unless it’s a private school. It is a violation of the separation between church and state, and they’d be dumb to do it.

Me personally, I’d just let it go, though. No one can force me to believe something I don’t.

If it is a public school system and I were an employee, I would file an objection.

Not a public school in America. I would definitely say something and see what sort of response I get. If they don’t see the problem I would make the complaint more formal, but I would start small with it being just a suggestion that it is out of place, before actually writing things down and stirring things up.

I’m a Christian and i’d file an objection too. One, there are so many sects of Christianity that allowing this will eventually lead to disagreements and dis chord even among Christians, but the real argument is, that if they allow a Christian led prayer then they must allow a Muslim led prayer, a Hindu led prayer, a Wiccan led prayer,...... I value my faith and value my right to not have other faiths inflicted on me in publicly funded places. If I want to have freedom in my faith I need to respect the freedom of other people’s faith as well.

Thanks, guys. The problem here is that I live in a small town. I couldn’t say anything unless it was anonymous or else I would be burned at the stake. And would it be worth it?

We all have to choose our battles. Only you can decide if this ones worth fighting for you.

@cocokitty Judi is right. You decide if it is worth it to you.

The bigger picture is what is troubling to me. If the superintendent finds this appropriate, where does it end? What about my students who might believe differently, how would they be treated…that kind of thing. Thanks, everyone.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened to file suit of Memphis City Council didn’t stop doing a prayer before their meetings. Memphis decided to stop rather than deal with a law suit. They might be able to help and keep you anonymous. Or, some other similar organization.

However, I agree with those above who say you have to decide whether it is worth the effort for you. You ask where does it end, do they do anything in school with the students that breaks the separation of church and state rules? Pray before a football game, prayer in school, etc.? The superintendent may see the rules for the students as different than for the employees and never cross the line.

Have you asked other teachers what they think? Or, are you worried about being exposed if you decide to do something.

Also, is there any documentation? An itinerary? Copies of the power point? That way if you just submitted it to an organization like @JLeslie mentioned you could give evidence while still remaining anonymous.

The question is, is it really THAT important to you? Or is this just a general complaint? I sure wouldn’t put my job on the line over something I found mildly questionable.

@Dutchess_III When you say mildly questionable, do you mean it is some sort of grey area whether it is acceptable? Or, do you mean mildly objectionable to the OP personally?

I mean to the OP personally. Is it something she wouldn’t have thought twice about 10 years ago, or is she objecting because of the big issue it’s become to the public?

Even when I was very into Christianity this sort of thing irked me. Like I said, it’s the big picture of the whole thing. JLeslie, we finally did stop the prayer at games, I believe. I’ve got some things to think about!

^^^Are there others on staff who find it objectionable (never mind, illegal)? If you are a one-man band in a small town where everyone does know your name, you do have a problem. Is there any objective reporting done by your local newspaper or does it have the bias also?

What’s your state’s department of education like. If you live in Texas or NC., forget I asked.

I would think it was a violation.

@cocokitty If it has irked you for a long time this might be the right time as these things are being faught all over the country. Since you live in a place still doing it, I am going to say there will be a lot of people not happy about it in your community when you fight “to help the atheists and socialists get rid of Christianity.” For me, even 40 years ago I can’t imagine it happening where I grew up, forget the 10 years @Dutchess_III mentions.

Something else to consider, even if you do it anonymously, when people talk about it you will know it was your doing. I’m sure there will be people who agree with the change, but the ones who are really upset about it will be very upset probably. You will have the burden of your secret, if you don’t associate your name with it. The feeling of acciomplishing what believe is right might outweigh the burden of holding the secret.

What would matter to me most is if the children are affected, otherwise I personally likely would not rock the boat, and I am Jewish and an atheist. I don’t shy away from speaking my mind, I would mention that I think it is wrong, probably I would use the word surprising or shocking, but really pursuing it wouldn’t be worth it to me if I was living in the bible belt. Do you live in the bible belt?

I second contacting FFRF. they will write a letter without mentioning your name. It’s what they do.

I’ve had my kids in Private Christian Schools for many years. A private Christian school has every right to lead prayer for their employees and students alike. In fact, most of them require that employees sign an agreement to support the religious standards of that school. If someone passed a law saying you couldn’t pray in a private Christian school, that would be the end of “freedom of religion in the USA, and a very short step to outlawing Christianity altogether.

Oops, didn’t read the question very well. I thought this was a private Christian school we were talking about. Public school, well I wouldn’t have an objection, but I know a lot of people who would.

Optional prayer is one thing, but for a public school, they have to allow equal access to other religions as well. More importantly, there has to be a way to opt out without repercussions.

While there are some practical reasons to restrict certain rites (for instance, Wiccans sometimes use an Athame, which is a ceremonial dagger, hence running afoul of weapons restrictions) and a private institution can have their own rules, anything paid for with taxpayer money has to accommodate us all.

Now, if they allow those of other faiths to have their own little thing at these meetings, all is good. If not, that’s a problem. And if you’re in a town that you would be burned at the stake for voicing an objection, how much would it take for you to move to America?

@snowberry Nobody objects to the stuff they like, but I can almost guarantee that you would have an objection if your kids went to a public school that held a Black Mass every morning. Then again, I’m also fairly sure that you send your kids to private school at least partly so that they do have the prayer; most public schools wouldn’t allow it simply because they can’t afford (or just don’t want) the legal headaches, but private schools can do it as they are funded by tuition rather than by taxpayer dollars and thus subject to different rules.

@jerv Yup. I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately we’re heading that way anyway, just not allowing Christian teachings, but other new age stuff.

I sent my daughter to a private school simply because they would, and did, expel rotten students who could single-handedly ruin a classroom.
Also, I had more say and control in what went on in a private school.
Religion was the least of my concerns.

Excellent point by all. And oh yes, we are in the BUCKLE of that belt, JLeslie…without giving away too much of myself! Redder than Texas!

And I am most certainly not anti-religion..I wouldn’t classify myself as an atheist even. Just a filthy liberal!

@snowberry Forgive me if I read your reply wrong…

Actually, it’s more like not allowing any religion; not Christianity, nor “New Age stuff”. Just because the public schools don’t extol the virtues of Jesus, that doesn’t mean that they are turning kids against Christ; merely that they feel religion should be taught by parents instead of schools, if for no reason other than to prevent lawsuits.

Theoretically, they could allow prayer in public schools, but that would require more accommodation than it’s worth; footbaths for Muslims, easing of weapons restrictions for Sikhs, and we won’t even discuss Santeria, Shinto, Discordianism, or any of the others. It’s not an anti-Christian conspiracy, merely an attempt to be fair to everybody, Christians included.

The school you send your kids to doesn’t have to answer to the government for money; it only has to answer to parents that want their kids raised in a Christian way. Since it’s a private institution, they don’t have to be nearly as accommodating to those of other faiths. And the Constitution forbids banning prayer in private schools for pretty much the same reason that it makes prayer in public schools practically banned; religious freedom. So your schools will be as free to pray as public schools are free from prayer.

@jerv Not arguing with you there. As I mentioned above, I did not read the question properly. Then I started reading the answers below it, and knee jerked a response. Ever done that? LOL

@snowberry All the time :p

I don’t see the schools doing a single thing differently than the way they did them when I was in school in the 60’s and 70’s. We didn’t have prayers or any other religious overtones then.

@cocokitty I was not assuming you were an atheist, I was saying the bible belt tends to think only atheists want to take religion out, to secularize things. Where I am fromin the northeast, and my friends in the midwest, the most religious theists I know would never want religion in school. After living in the bible belt I see that they have been breaking the rules of separation of church and state forever (a gross overgeneralization, but I’ll generalize to make the conversation easy, just know I don’t think all people or all bible belt communities do this) and so when we try to insist they need to stop doing some of these behaviors they feel like outsiders are trying to take away Chrsitianity, squash it, get rid of it, change America, let the liberals take over, and on and on.

Outside of the bible belt, especially in diverse cities, no one was ever brining religion into the public schools, because whose religion are you going to pick? Gonna do a a Jewish prayer in NYC? Muslim in Dearborn, MI? Do we just go with the majority population in that school or among the teachers? The people in the bible belt who have lived in places with a huge majority of Christians don’t feel a real sense of what it is like to be the minority and they don’t want to. They don’t think what they want the law, rule, or practice to be if they become the minority, because they don’t see it as a reality. Again, not all people, just a generalization.

It happens outside the bible belt also. There are small Christian towns all over the country. Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Mormons, and other people of other faiths understand that their prayer is probably not going to be the one chosen so they want the separation of church and state for all. Including most atheists want to secularize institutions to protect people’s freedom of religion not the opposite. This is a very important point. I think many Christians don’t understand the intention of separation of church and state. We don’t want the government or even community pressure to dictate what religion a person is subject to. We want the individual to be able to practice their own religion without interference from the state.

However, we have all sorts of contradictions in the country. The President goes to prayer meetings, he says God Bless America at the end of a speech, he is sworn in with a hand on the bible, etc. It’s tricky which fight to pick.

Let us know what happens. What you decide.