THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411270111
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 141 lines
For years, the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition and other religious groups have fought to allow public school students to conduct organized prayer in the classroom and at school events.
Now, as incoming House Speaker Newt Gingrich proposes a major drive on a constitutional amendment to foster voluntary prayer in public schools, the Christian Coalition's executive director, Ralph E. Reed Jr., says he's planning a multipronged attack which could include changing existing laws and writing new rules.
``We aren't going to put all our eggs in the amendment basket,'' Reed said. ``We're going to seek regulations through the Department of Education that will prohibit funding to school districts that do not allow students to voluntarily engage in free speech, including prayer.''
Whether school-prayer legislation moves ahead or fails, the debate on the topic reveals the rising power of the Christian Coalition in getting attention for its agenda in a Congress soon to be controlled by Republicans.
Reed says his group has a list of issues which should be tackled before school prayer: tax relief for families with children, welfare reform, term limits and a balanced-budget amendment.
Those issues, but not school prayer, were included in the Republican House candidates' ``Contract With America,'' meaning that the candidates promised to get votes on them next year. But prayer, and its proper role in the educational lives of young people, could prove to be one of the most emotionally explosive issues.
The issue is complicated by the public's confusion over how much and what kind of organized prayer is permitted under existing laws. Federal courts have issued conflicting decisions on school prayer, leaving many school administrators in a quandary over student requests for time to pray.
Last week, for example, a federal appeals court ruled that it is unconstitutional for an Idaho school district to allow its senior class to vote on having prayers at graduation and on choosing who would say the prayer. That ruling conflicts with a 1992 decision from a Louisiana federal judge permitting student-initiated prayer at a public school graduation.
Clearly, students do have some opportunities to pray in a school setting under existing court rulings. They can pray silently, or speak a prayer quietly to themselves, as long as it does not disrupt others. They can organize Bible study clubs that must be on equal footing with other school clubs to meet in classrooms. At many schools, students have started ``Rally Around the Flagpole'' meetings, where they gather to pray before school starts.
A moment of silent reflection - as suggested by President Clinton - is a more murky issue. In Georgia, Newt Gingrich's home state, there is a legal challenge under way to the state legislature's mandate for a brief period of quiet reflection, though it is intended not to be a religious exercise.
Reed, of the Christian Coalition, says he wants to give students a greater opportunity to praise God out loud. ``Don't come to me and tell me I have a right to remain silent,'' he said. ``That is not a right at all.''
Reed wants to put the power in the students' hands. He says a majority should be allowed to vote on holding a prayer at a school event, as long as the prayer is non-sectarian and non-proselytizing. School officials should not be allowed to lead or organize the prayer, he said, and students should not be forced to participate.
He favors regulations to prohibit funding to school districts, ``that do not allow students to voluntarily engage in free speech, including prayer.'' That legislation would follow the lines of proposals by North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, who has repeatedly fought to cut off funding for school systems that don't allow voluntary prayer.
Helms' measures have been defeated or substantially changed, but Reed says he believes that they can pass next year in a GOP-controlled Congress.
Reed says he realizes that any kind of prayer is bound to offend some students, but that shouldn't require the elimination of group prayer at school events.
``I would take a very strong position that you don't repeal the right to free speech of one person just because the exercise of that right makes someone uncomfortable,'' he said. ``By making prayers non-sectarian, non-proselytizing, and student-initiated to the greatest extent that we can, we are demonstrating a sensitivity to the concerns of others.''
But for others, even in the religious community, giving the power to a student majority doesn't eliminate the potentially coercive nature of group prayer in a school setting.
J. Brent Walker, general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee and a Baptist minister, says that the few students who decide to leave a group prayer will feel ostracized and singled out.
``You can't give that state-controlled podium to one particular religion over another and say if you don't like it, you can shut your eyes, close your ears, or leave,'' he said. ``That is so disrespectful of the rights of conscience.''
Elliot Mincberg, legal director of People for the American Way, says that arranging prayer by student vote leads to tyranny. ``It gives the majority control over what the school does without the responsibility of looking out for the minority's interest or the true interest of religion,'' he said. MEMO: Related stories on page A1, A2 and J1.
EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH RALPH E. REED JR., executive director
of the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition, on prayer in the schools:
The goal for prayer: I do not want to see a prayer that is composed,
directed led or mandated by a government or school official. I would
like to see student initiated, student-led, non-sectarian,
non-proselytizing, voluntary prayer. . . . I am talking about between
school hours and after school hours, at football games, at high school
graduations, commencements. Students are being systematically denied
their First Amendment rights to free speech.
The plan of attack: We aren't going to put all our eggs in the
amendment basket. We're going to proceed on a multipronged approach:
regulatory, statutory and constitutional amendment. We're going to seek
regulations through the Department of Education that will prohibit
funding to school districts that do not allow students to voluntarily
engage in free speech, including prayer.
On the moment of silence: Don't come to me and tell me I have a right
to remain silent. That is not a right at all.
On offending those who don't pray: I would take a very strong
position that you don't repeal the right to free speech of one person
just because the exercise of that right makes someone uncomfortable. By
making prayers non-sectarian, non-proselytizing, and student-initiated
to the greatest extent that we can, we are demonstrating a sensitivity
to the concerns of others.
PROS AND CONS
By making prayers non-sectarian, non-proselytizing, and
student-initiated to the greatest extent that we can, we are
demonstrating a sensitivity to the concerns of others.'' - Ralph E. Reed
Jr., executive director, Christian Coalition
You can't . . . say if you don't like it, you can shut your eyes,
close your ears, or leave. That is so disrespectful of the rights of
conscience.'' - J. Brent Walker, general counsel of the Baptist Joint
Committee
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Reed
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW SCHOOL PRAYER RELIGION by CNB