Alabama House committee Passes Bill Requiring School Prayer Every Morning
Posted by Maphesdus 10 years, 2 months ago to Legislation
There are eight representatives on the Alabama House Education Policy Committee (five Republicans and three Democrats):
(D) Elaine Beech
(D) Thomas Jackson
(D) Joseph Mitchell
(R) Mac Buttram
(R) Terri Collins
(R) Ed Henry
(R) Kerry Rich
(R) Lesley Vance
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house...
Only two Republicans claim to have genuinely voted in favor of the bill. Two other Republicans and one Democrat were counted as voting in favor of the bill during the voice count, but insist they actually voted against it. Three legislators weren't even present for the vote.
I'm not sure who voted which way or who was absent, but given these numbers, it appears as though at least four Republicans and one Democrat were present, which means the three absent ones must have been two of the Democrats and one of the Republicans. So the bill passes, even though only two out of the eight legislators (both of whom were Republicans) actually voted in favor of the bill. At least that's what appears to be the case from what I can tell.
Alternate article on UPI:
www.upi.com/blog/2014/02/20/Alabama-Hous...
(D) Elaine Beech
(D) Thomas Jackson
(D) Joseph Mitchell
(R) Mac Buttram
(R) Terri Collins
(R) Ed Henry
(R) Kerry Rich
(R) Lesley Vance
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house...
Only two Republicans claim to have genuinely voted in favor of the bill. Two other Republicans and one Democrat were counted as voting in favor of the bill during the voice count, but insist they actually voted against it. Three legislators weren't even present for the vote.
I'm not sure who voted which way or who was absent, but given these numbers, it appears as though at least four Republicans and one Democrat were present, which means the three absent ones must have been two of the Democrats and one of the Republicans. So the bill passes, even though only two out of the eight legislators (both of whom were Republicans) actually voted in favor of the bill. At least that's what appears to be the case from what I can tell.
Alternate article on UPI:
www.upi.com/blog/2014/02/20/Alabama-Hous...
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
14th Amendment:
"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
It appears that the 1st Amendment does not prohibit a STATE from either creating or banning religious practices. It appears that Section 1 of the 14th Amendment takes that capability away from the states. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems the states do not have the capability to write a low about religion and the practice there of. However as Maphesdus points out in his comment, they are not requiring the teacher offer a prayer or that the students do so. They are requiring that the teacher read verbatim a prayer offered by the Chaplin of either the House or Senate. This is a teaching point about religion and its expression in this country. The two houses of Congress offer prayers every day before the start of the daily session. Every day. They form part of the congressional record.
If Congress has the right (or privilege as stated in the 14th amendment) the people can do it also. This is a controversial statement, since the SCOTUS has said you may not do so in school. I think this is the ultimate goal of this law. Get it reviewed by SCOTUS one more time.
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I assume you mean LionelHutz there. And reciting a prayer every single morning cannot be called anything else except praying. If they want to include the prayers in a textbook and have a lesson on it at some point during the school year, that's fine. Requiring that the prayers be recited every single morning, however, is a denial of religious freedom, because the teachers are being forced to pray. It's no longer an expression of religious freedom when they're being forced to do it.
"a bill requiring teachers and students at all of the state's public schools to spend 15 minutes every morning in Christian prayer"
"a bill that would require public school teachers to open class with a prayer each morning"
Wow - that's rather sensational. But then, what the articles say upon further reading is the bill would: "require teachers to spend no more than 15 minutes in the first class of each day to read, verbatim, opening prayers said before a meeting of the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate."
Hmm..does that sound like the bill is requiring students or teachers to pray to you? To me, it sounds like it requires teachers teach their students that prayers are in fact said in the national Congress, and what the content of those prayers were. There is a big difference, and I think even if you're an atheist you might want your kids to know that this is the state of affairs in this country. Do they need to learn about it every single time a prayer is uttered in Congress? Uh...no.
Does this leave room for teacher monkey business should this bill be passed? Yep - no doubt. But I don't really think that's what objectors really fear here. I'm guessing they would rather the kids not know that prayers are performed in the national Congress at all. In their minds, it lends an air of legitimacy to prayer, and that simply won't do. If they could pass a law requiring Congress not do the prayers at all, that would be even more satisfactory outcome, in their book.