THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, September 9, 1994              TAG: 9409090569
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   53 lines

SCHROTE PUSHES FOR PRAYER IN SCHOOLS HE CHALLENGES HIS FOE OWENS TO ALSO JOIN IN THE BATTLE

Corolla Republican John Schrote wants prayer in public schools, and he wants his political opponent, Bill Owens, to fight for it, too.

Schrote, running against Owens for the North Carolina House of Representatives seat being vacated by Vernon James, urged the Pasquotank County commissioner to push an endorsement of school prayer through his board.

The recommendation came Thursday, two days after the Dare County Board of Commissioners joined a handful of local governments statewide who are asking the General Assembly to return prayer to public schools.

In a prepared statement, Schrote congratulated the Dare board for its action.

``Even though such a resolution does not have the force of law, it does confirm the views of the people,'' Schrote said. ``I hope the counties within the 1st District will adopt the resolution. I urge my opponent, Commissioner Bill Owens, to take a leadership role on the Pasquotank Board of Commissioners in getting this resolution passed there.

``If he succeeds, in a bipartisan spirit, I will publicly commend him for his efforts.''

Owens, a Democrat, said that he supports school prayer and that some forms of prayer are allowed in Pasquotank County schools. But he does not believe a local or state government has the authority to supersede federal rulings that prohibit public school-sponsored religious activities.

``I'm certainly supportive of public prayer in school,'' Owens said Thursday. ``It certainly never hurt me when I was in school to pray, and it wouldn't hurt the kids today. But I'm not the federal government.

``The Supreme Court rules this land,'' Owens said. ``We all have to abide by the laws.''

Owens said that every Pasquotank commissioners meeting has opened with a prayer during his 18 years in office. Because of the legal difficulties with public school prayer, Owens called Schrote's overture a ``political election tactic.''

Schrote said that prayers opening public meetings show that court rulings on church-state issues are vague. Schrote's statement said references to religion can be found throughout U.S. historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

``Carefully crafted, the Constitution guarantees the right to worship our God as we believe,'' Schrote said. ``But God is recognized.''

KEYWORDS: PRAYERS IN SCHOOL NORTH CAROLINA by CNB