4th Thought

The article I'll be discussing, from the Jerusalem Post:
Here

This is an opinion article which has as its title, "What's wrong with school prayer?"

Well, I'd respond, the fact that students may not want to pray?

Benkof begins by noting the importance with prayer, and with that I agree with him completely. I think conversations with G-d are a pretty significant part of a person's life - if they so chose. The issue is that there is no prayer that encompasses all belief and non-belief. Even a blanket, simple "G-d" excludes those who are polytheistic or atheistic. Exclusion isn't something we want in our schools - it's a motivating factor, I think, in the bullying problem he decries. If, when, and where a student prayers should be left entirely up to her. It should not be a matter of the school.

Benkof argues that there is no "slippery slope" from having a prayer time recognized to prayer time for Christians. I think this is, frankly, a little naive. Students are already overwhelmed by peer pressure; having to carve out a space for your religion in a hegemony is difficult. Surely some students wouldn't want to pray at different times, or require certain artifacts, or not just want to pray at all. We need to respect their needs - not doing so IS an invitation to hegemony, which yes, often offers the dominant discourse ample space.

His other argument is that the "seperation between church and state wasn't handed down from Moses at Sinai". This is true. Neither were speeding limits, so it has baloney all to do with American law. This seperation - which has been getting disturbingly weak - PROTECTS Jewish students. It protects other students as well. We have an obligation to preserve that protection. We have an obligation to continue prayer in our hearts, while keeping it out of locker airwaves, because that's, honestly, an imposition on others.

I don't want to rail against the author, though. He did bring up a very important factor which I, honestly, don't know much about. What are Israeli laws concerning seperation of shul and state? How does a Jewish state respect its Jews and its secular needs? This is a really important matter. I'm not sure where to research, but clearly it needs to be done.