Prayer in Public- why not?

Ok so I decided to pick a more interesting topic.

Why isn't prayer allowed in public schools?

At my school in South Fayette, we have a fairly large population of Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Non Denominational people who wouldn't mind praying.

In fact, during the last week of my band camp, the band parents provided food for the band.

We prayed before every meal.

I'm talking legit praying.

Like, a senior would volunteer to pray and then everyone would stand up and bow their heads silently.

The first day I was pleasantly shocked.

I was even more shocked on the very last day of camp when the parents came for lunch and they still prayed.

Then it got me thinking... why is this shocking?

Why must praying for public school activities be shocking?

Who started this?

What kind of person would be so offended by prayer that they wouldn't want it in schools?

Are they dead yet? If so, I bet they're regretting some choices.

I found this on this page of WikiAnswers-
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In 1963 there started to be some people against the Lord's Prayer in public schools.


Stew731

The U. S. Supreme Court issued two bans. One in 1962 and the second in 1963. Both bans were the result of lawsuits against the teaching of religion and religious practices in public schools. Basically stating that organized prayer in schools was a violation of the separation of church and state. It was decided that publicly funded schools were an extension of the state, and that organized prayer or bible readings were a form of proselytizing. The bans not only banned mandatory prayer in schools but also banned the daily reading of bible passages.

The lawsuits were supported by several organizations but the most outspoken supporter for banning prayer in schools came from Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the founder of American Atheists, Inc.
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Interesting.

Very interesting.

I'm gonna close with that.