Public School Prayer Punished

Tomorrow, as we bow our knee to the Lord during the National Day of Prayer and ask for His spirit to revive this country, we are mindful of the many threats believers face as a result of the political left’s hostility to Bible-based morality. Even the act of prayer, which the day has been set aside to observe, is under attack.

Recently, 12 students in Vancouver, Washington were suspended for gathering to pray in their cafeteria before school began. When the 12 refused to stop at the direction of the assistant principal, they were suspended.

Fortunately, the group of faithful high schoolers was vindicated this week with the help of the Liberty Counsel, which argued that students have the constitutional right to gather and pray just as they can gather to talk about sports or music. As one attorney with the Counsel said, “In these days of discord and violence, schools should know better than to ban students from praying.”

May we all take our cue from these brave students to set aside time with God to ask for His blessing on this country–not just tomorrow but every day.

As the war against family values rages on, the Church can take some comfort in knowing that a fresh generation is reporting for duty. According to an article in today’s New York Times there has been a surge of interest in religion on college campuses, and, particularly, in how it affects politics.

Professor Peter Gomes of Harvard University says, “There is probably more active religious life now than there has been in the last 100 years.” If former Yale President Timothy Dwight were alive, he would rejoice in the signs of a Great Awakening akin to what he sparked across campus in the early 1800s.

The grandson of the great Jonathan Edwards, Dwight noticed that the students and faculty had drifted far from the Christian faith on which the university was founded. To reverse the growing skepticism, Dwight fired the professors who embraced the new wave of secularism.

As a result, nearly a third of the student body was converted to Christianity.

Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.