Every Illinois Student Now REQUIRED by Law to Pray at School Every Day

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Personally I am not concerned, as I said, if I was in that situation I'd sit on the ground half lotus and meditate. But I do understand why others would be concerned, and you can always cross your hands in prayer during this moment of silence, which again doesn't bother me but could bother non-religious parents. But then again I am opposed to public schools in general and plan on homeschooling so I can avoid these many idiosyncrasies of public school life.

Originally posted by xxshadowsecretxx
Well, either way I see nothing wrong with a moment of silence to do whatever it is you need to reflect upon. Sometimes I would think about our fallen heroes, sometimes I would pray, and sometimes I would just look around. Nothing wrong with a moment of silence imo.

Yeah, but it could be stopped very quickly by passing out fliers on the way into school saying "Today's moment of silence is for Dylan Klebold; or Eric Harris, or Madelaine Murray O'Hair, or Jared Loughner."

a moment of silence is required...however no one is "forced to pray"...some students said they just sit there and think about their homework or tests...my local news had a story on it the other night but I can't find it on their website.

here is another news story from up north. moment of silence in school act


I live in illinois and haven't really heard any outrage..we have more outrage over ameren power gouging us..

Originally posted by jupiter869
The only enforcement for kids is to be sent to the principal's office if they are not silent. For teachers, if reported not maintaining the silence, disciplinary action will result in bad performance reviews, and ultimately if continued to be ignored, suspension.

edit on 21-1-2011 by jupiter869 because: (no reason given)

How is this any different from all the other mandatory silence orders during school? You know, like, when the teacher is giving a lesson?

A moment of silence is not forced prayer, stop trolling.

Hrm.

The only reply I have to this is that I am currently in college in IL. My last day of classes for the week was yesterday, but we were in no way asked to pray at the beginning of class, nor was there so much as a hint of this murmured on campus.

That's all I know.

Originally posted by jupiter869
The only enforcement for kids is to be sent to the principal's office if they are not silent. For teachers, if reported not maintaining the silence, disciplinary action will result in bad performance reviews, and ultimately if continued to be ignored, suspension.

edit on 21-1-2011 by jupiter869 because: (no reason given)

So, you are admitting your OP and title were sensationalistic and deceptive?

No one can be forced to "pray". When I am in the presence of others praying I stand or sit quietly, respecting their right to do so. This is not "imposing" their beliefs onto me and I will not discourage them from enjoying their freedom or otherwise disturb or interrupt them.

Actually, by not permitting the students and/or teachers to exercise their freedom of religion, the school would be "infringing" on their rights.

reply to post by 4nsicphd


Now that WOULD be a problem. That is where I think it would get to be controversial and people would have a reason to get angry. Having silence for specific people as a group should be kept in something like a voluntary assembly. I remember that when I was in high school, two marines that graduated died in Iraq, and we had a voluntary school assembly where we took a a moment of silence for them.

Wow, the only Extreme Thing I thought Would happen in Illinois, would be Not Standing and Putting your hand over your Heart During the Pledge of allegiance.

It's all about controlling the masses.....You all pray in public schools or no one prays in no public institution, no matter the religion, pray to your god, everyone on equal footing.....Awww...Religion and politic agreeing with each other....what a joke....


As Ricky Gervais said...."Thank god for making me an Atheist"....LOL

I live in Illinois and haven't heard of this. I will ask my kids when they get home today. If they are forcing my kids to pray, then I will remove them from school and they can learn at home. This is over stepping their bounds and I will not stand for this. I have my own opinions about religion, but I do not force them on anyone and I will not have them forced on my children. School is not the place for religion. If the parents want their kids to learn and participate in a religion, fine, let them make that decision. It is not the place of the state or school district to force this on children who have no choice, and may be afraid they will be punished if they don't.

reply to post by DAVID64


I also live in Illinois, and as far as I know my school district is not participating, or at least not yet.

Why would you pull them from school over a 15 sec moment of silence? It is not a teacher lead prayer group, it is 15 sec where students must sit and be quite, I don't see the big deal.

Most mornings students are a little hyped up from greating their friends, talking, fussing with their belongings, I think that a few seconds to be quite will be beneficial for many reasons, most importantly getting them on track and quite to start learning.

Originally posted by jupiter869
A new Illinois law went into effect yesterday forcing every single student in the entire state, no matter what their religious denomination or belief, to pray for a minimum of fifteen seconds at the beginning of class every day. There must be complete silence in the classrooms during this time.

Sensationalize much? Geesh. It's well known that taking a few moments to stop and refocus before starting class tends for a better learning environment. Relaxing for a moment to take a breath and mentally switch gears to suit the classroom or other learning environment will actually help the learning processes...

reply to post by searching4truth


where are you and david from? North, Central or South....

I'm down by the I64/57 corridor.

reply to post by Neopan100


Chicago area, and I just asked the munchkins and they said they don't do it, all they have in the morning is the pledge.

If you dont pray, then just sit there and think about what naughty " numbers" you can get your girl to wear for you, or come up with a sinister plot to eradicate this ridiculous law.

Seems to be just another case of bending over backwards to try to please everyone and offend no one. Never works, does it?

To be honest, this seems silly to me. It's not as if every moment of the school day is so jam packed that a student or teacher or administrator can't take a moment or even a few to regroup, reflect, think, pray. Why does it have to be done in unity or at a certain time? To reassure those (probably very relatively few) that their "concerns" are being met? More than likely.

How many people supporting this here claim in other threads to be against unnecessary laws being made which interfere in peoples' lives?

Policing laws costs money.
Unnecessary laws create unnecessary friction.
This will be one more way to control kids, by getting them used to a "time for reflection", and to harass non-Christian teachers.

Anyone who doesn't realise this is an attempt to open the way to sneak prayer back into schools has their head buried deep in the poop factory.

I think a moment of silence is a good thing for one's mind! Wether the kids are actually praying is up to them totally it should never be forced upon anybody ever! Except when I was a kid, I went to Catholic school and we were forced to sit in church and pass the collection plates everyday. Its a shame the churches dont get taxed....im getting off subject!

reply to post by jupiter869



Yeah, it seems to imply that the church and state barrier is crumbling. If you don't want hear my opinion, stop reading. If so...
I think it's a good idea. I don't go to church or necessarily believe in God or Allah (whichever,) I do feel that some intelligent force that some might call a spirit exists; but wouldn't want to be worshiped or have blood shed in its name.
So why do I think it's a good idea? All you need to do is survey the student body of a school. I know this will signal alarms as religious profiling (in all honesty, it happens anyway), but as a species we really need to get real and take the risk of repeating history (Nazi's for ex.) for the reward of unity and peace between all religions.
Many in our country, America, are ignorant and will take, "New York City has been attacked by a Al-qaeda," which then turned into, "Attack on U.S." which must have some country as the aggressor, "Muslims killed 2,977 Americans on 9/11," sort of... America immediately found a bull# loophole to gloriously invade Afghanistan and Iraq for some payback, which inspired a country music song:

www.youtube.com...

that accurately portrayed the spirit of the times. In short, Allah and all of Islam were now the enemy.

So the survey is complete. Your school consists of; 20% Catholic, 60% other denominations of Christianity, 10% Islam, 5% 'other' that included a please specify:, consisting mostly of a spiritual observance. And of course the rest have no religious affiliation. Monday-Friday would have a different groups prayer and a discussion on the belief for 15 seconds multiplied by at least 60.
So taking about 15 minutes a day to learn about classmates' religion to understand and respect this persons beliefs may have the potential to change the world. Ignorance is the only thing that can ignite the hate behind religious differences. Humans need to remember, if possible, or just relearn how to respect one another.

Originally posted by Kailassa
How many people supporting this here claim in other threads to be against unnecessary laws being made which interfere in peoples' lives?

Policing laws costs money.
Unnecessary laws create unnecessary friction.

Exactly, but it's worse than it looks. It's called the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act, and that directly violates the part of the constitution about respecting an establishment of religion. In fact, it's a law respecting all establishments of religion and uses religious wording right in the name of the law. Two of the three judges should be fired for wasting taxpayer money even addressing this crap when they know damn well that it's unconstitutional and will eventually be struck down.

Seriously, forget for a moment whether or not you believe that prayer should be in schools, and just think about the enormous waste of time and money this law is going to cause. Eventually some teacher is going to violate the law intentionally, and then the dog and pony show will start, and guess who foots the bill? That's right, judges and state's attorneys are paid for by the taxpayer. And the law WILL eventually be found to be unconstitutional.

So, had the two moron judges simply not voted to reinstate the law, the outcome would ultimately be the same, minus a huge waste of time and money.

Way to go Illinois

Anyone who doesn't realise this is an attempt to open the way to sneak prayer back into schools has their head buried deep in the poop factory.

True, but those people have NEVER stopped getting a close look at their own colons, so it's not really a surprise nor is it a concern of mine. This country is full of idiots, and I've gotten used to it.

My ire is directed at the judges alone, and the dummies responsible for them being there. And it's not because the judges are religious. It's because the judges are blind to the fact that they have basically just allotted a large chunk of yet-to-be-determined future time, and personnel, to fix their ideological message.