Prayer in Schools -- "Christian by default"

Atheists have a reputation for being bitter spoilsports who hate religion and religious people. OK, some of them do. But most just want to be free to not practice any religion, and for religious people to leave them alone. But the prayer in schools debate always brings out the worst in both sides -- (some) Christians get self-righteous about those God-hating atheists trying to deprive them of their right to commune with the Lord, and (some) atheists get hysterical about any mention of the G-word in a public school.

I think one of the most common reasons for the bad reputation atheists have is stories like this one. (If you're too lazy to click on the link, the gist of it is this: a (public) high school has traditionally sung the Lord's Prayer at graduation, and now an atheist student who's a member of the school choir is suing the school, with backing from the ACLU.)

Stories like this are pretty common, especially in Texas. Another local high school traditionally had a prayer at graduation, until some atheists sued. Naturally Christians howled in indignation. Those atheists, always spitefully trying to spoil something that makes decent God-fearing folk happy, just 'cause they hate religion.

"Christians ask "What's your problem? How does singing the Lord's Prayer hurt anyone? Why can't you just let them celebrate their traditions? It's not like you have to pray if you don't want to!" And this leads to arguments about why prayer in school should be allowed -- after all, if they just have a "moment of silence" for those who want to to pray, those who don't want to can abstain from prayer and think about algebra or Brittany Spears naked or whatever, right?

Now, I'll admit some atheists go overboard in trying to purge all signs of religion from public life. I don't particularly mind when people pray in public, or put up religious decorations, or otherwise express their spirituality openly. I also don't object or take offense when someone says "I'll be praying for you" (assuming they mean it in the nice sense, not in the "I'll be praying for you because you're a Godless heathen who's going to hell" sense). Expressing your beliefs is fine -- as long as it's not an exclusionary practice at a public (taxpayer-funded) event.

Let me explain an important distinction here. I heard about another story where a valedictorian wanted to talk about her personal relationship with Jesus during her speech at graduation, and was told she couldn't. I think that's stupid -- the school administration would be justified in saying "No, you can't tell the student body that they all need to be saved, because your valedictorian speech is not an appropriate place for proselytizing," but I don't see any harm in mentioning one's sources of inspiration. (Me, I'd be rolling my eyes if I were in the audience, but most students do that anyway during valedictorian speeches.) Say you're a Christian, fine. Say "All of you should be Christian," not fine.

The difference is that a school-endorsed prayer is sending an implicit message: "Christianity is the official position of this institution. If you're not Christian, you are allowed to not be Christian by our sufferance. But we're going to remind you on a daily basis that we're in charge, and that your non-participation is dependenent on our tolerance." It's a very strong implication that Christianity is the default position, and that being able to participate in public life as a non-Christian is not a right, but a privilege that you enjoy because Christians choose to allow it. I have even heard this defended by some Christians -- their theory is that America is a Christian country, and therefore Christianity should be assumed to be the default, and us atheists and other non-Christians should just be happy that we live in such a wonderful country that allows us to be non-Christian.

(I say "Christians" here because, at least in the U.S., the issue almost always comes up as a function of Christian prayer or religious expressions. Jews and Muslims may not have quite the same issues with public prayers that atheists do, especially since sometimes there's an effort to make the prayer non-sectarian, but they often protest -- and sue -- against public Christian prayers too.)

So when a school has a prayer as part of their official ceremony -- or worse, as a daily ritual -- they are elevating the status of religious practitioners above that of everyone else. My tax dollars are going to support the endorsement of a particular religion in an institution that's supposed to respect everyone's personal religious beliefs or lack thereof equally. And whether it's intended that way or not (and make no mistake, some Christians do intend it that way), it's rubbing non-believers' noses in the premise that their rights could be suspended at any time if believers chose to suspend them.

So suing is a way non-believers can stand up and say "No, our rights are not dependent on your goodwill; they are rights, and not subject to your approval. We don't need you to be 'tolerant' of us, we don't need your permission or validation."

Now some Christians will argue that their rights are being infringed when they aren't allowed to express their beliefs freely. This is a specious argument -- they are free to express their beliefs. But freedom of speech and freedom of religion aren't absolute -- I can say anything I want, but I don't have a right to say it on live TV if the TV station doesn't want to broadcast it. I have to a right to hold any beliefs I want, but that doesn't mean any institution (including the government) has an obligation to give me a soapbox for them. And there are inappropriate places to speak (or pray): a student doesn't have a right to talk during class while the teacher is speaking. He doesn't have the right to pray in the middle of class either.

Contrary to the rhetoric spouted by so many prayer-in-school defenders, prayer has never been banned in public school! God has never been "kicked out of the classroom," as Jerry Falwell likes to put it. You can pray all you want during breaks and lunch, and before or after school. (For that matter, nothing stops you from praying silently during class.) Indeed, many public schools have prayer meetings, Christian clubs, and the like, and there's nothing wrong with that -- as long as it's an extra-curricular activity, and as long as students practicing other faiths are allowed to do the same thing. (And for that matter, as long as an "atheists' club" would also be permitted, if atheist students wanted to form one.)

There's another aspect to these "traditional" prayers as well. These stories usually come from small-town or rural school districts. Schools in large cities usually have a diverse enough population that the administration knows better than to try to force Christianity in everyone's face like that. And if they try, there is a large enough population of legally-savvy non-Christians to make them regret it.

But small towns in Texas are usually 99%+ Christian, and it would never even occur to some of the people there that there might be non-Christians who feel their rights are being trampled. When almost everyone in town is a Christian, naturally they get outraged about this one uppity Jew or atheist or pagan who wants to spoil a perfectly good traditional prayer that they've been doing for years by calling in the gu'mmint and invoking the Constitution. "Why should this one non-believer's rights be able to trump everyone else's?" they ask.

And the reason is because it is that very environment of "Christian by default" that implicitly tells non-believers that they are second-class citizens, that being a minority means they need to shut up and accept what the majority wants, or their rights might be taken away. And that's why they sue, to forcibly remind the majority that the rights of the minority are not subject to popular approval, and that you don't get to violate the Constitution just because 99% of your neighbors think it's perfectly OK too. (That "It's a traditional practice and no one's had a problem with it for years" defense is really weak -- in some small towns everyone thought it was perfectly fine for years to refuse to sell houses to blacks or Jews, even though it was illegal.)

So pray all you want, wherever you want -- just don't make me participate, and don't set it up in such a way that I have to deliberately (and visibly) choose to abstain. Religion should be "opt in," not "opt out."