"In the early 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited state sponsorship of prayers in public schools. But now the question has a new slant as some schools have taken steps to accommodate Muslim students’ strict obligation to pray five times a day towards Mecca. "
“Free to pray at recess”
Christians, Jews want equal time for prayer in San Diego school district that accommodates Muslim students obligated to pray five times a day toward Mecca
San Diego public school students may have some time set aside in their school day to invoke Allah's blessings, ask the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, or praise the Lord -- if Christian and Jewish students have religious rights equal to those of Muslims.
In the early 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court prohibited state sponsorship of prayers in public schools. But now the question has a new slant as some schools have taken steps to accommodate Muslim students’ strict obligation to pray five times a day towards Mecca.
Should schools accommodate the rights of Christians, Jews, and other believers as well? The Pacific Justice Institute, a non-profit legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights, ?and other civil liberties, says the answer is an obvious "Yes."
“At Carver Elementary School Muslim students have been accommodated in order to worship and pray in a classroom specifically set aside for this purpose during the 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. school hour on a daily basis,” noted Pacific Justice attorney Peter Lepiscopo in a June 7 letter to the School Board of the San Diego Unified School District.
Since “the Board is further developing a Daily Prayer Time Policy,” Lepiscopo wrote, “Pacific Justice is requesting not only that Carver Elementary offer the same prayer time for Christians, Jews, and other believers” but also that any policy “should be extended to Grades K through 12 throughout the District.”
In a statement to the press, San Diego Unified School District spokesman Jack Brandeis contended that the Institute’s requests go beyond the accommodations the district is making for Muslim students. At Carver Elementary, Brandeis said, students can choose to go to recess or to pray for about ten minutes during the school day. Students of any faith are free to pray at recess as well.
The District says that going beyond this would put them in violation of the law.
"Voluntary, student-initiated prayer in schools should not be controversial,” Pacific Justice president Brad Dacus contended in a press release. “The federal courts have held that schools do not endorse everything they fail to censor, and this could be a terrific opportunity for a whole community to recognize the importance of faith in our youth -- without government involvement or interference."
Kevin Snider, chief counsel for Pacific Justice Institute, informed California Catholic Daily in a telephone interview that in the last 18 months, the Institute has organized more than a dozen Pastors' Seminars “up and down the state” on a variety of topics, with more meetings scheduled in the next few months.
Snider reports that “Pacific Justice gets three to six dozen participants -- drawn from local ministerial associations -- at a typical morning or luncheon meeting discussing legal options. PJI is fully prepared to train California pastors, priests and rabbis to have a role in encouraging public school students in their faith while staying within constitutional boundaries."
All Credit to California Catholic Daily at: http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle
Metmom,
Check this outrageous article out.
Line’s been drawn
I guess it would be Ok then to install Holy Water fountains for the Catholics.
How much longer are we going to bend over for these people who want to slit your children's and grand children's throats?
Someone should tell Congress about this so its understood before the next round of legislation on illegal immigration!
In that case, I’m sure that the rop will have no problem with CHRISTMAS carols being sung at the CHRISTMAS festival.
Before 9/11, how did Muslim school children pray 5 times a day?
For the Michigan School, just wait until some student washes a pig in the footbath. The muslims will demand the student be executed and the footbath destroyed. They will probably also object if too many women use the footbath, but they may place them only in the men’s bathroom.