Words shaping the picture of the world: school prayer in the American system of education

• Authors: Iwona Zamkowska

Abstracts

EN

Prayer constituted a core element of character and patriotic formation at the outset of the American public education system in the colonial period. Over the years, however, the status of this religious practice has undergone a significant transformation, including a complete ban on school prayer. The article discusses the factors that have had a decisive impact on the status of school prayer, including increasing religious diversity of the American population as well as tensions between dominant and minority religions and non-religion. Both old controversies over state-sponsored and school-run prayer as well as more recent ones surrounding graduation prayer and prayer before sports games will be discussed in more detail on the basis of landmark Supreme Court and lower court cases as well as government regulations, including presidential guidelines and other administrative documents.

Keywords

EN

religious freedom; pluralism; public schools; school prayer; words as actions

• Publisher: Akademia Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna w Łodzi
• Journal: Językoznawstwo
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 10
• Pages: 49-60

Dates

published

2016

Contributors

author

Iwona Zamkowska

• Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego w Radomiu

References

• Berg T. C., The Story of the School Prayer Decisions: Civil Religion Under Assault, [in:] R. Garnett, A. Koppelman (eds.), First Amendment Stories, U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper 11–18, Foundation Press, 2011, SSRN.
• Carper J. C., Hunt T. C. (eds.), The Praeger Handbook of Religion and Education in the United States, Vol. 2, Westport, Conn 2009.
• Clinton W. J., Memorandum on Religious Expression in Schools, Online by G. Peters, J. T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project, July 12, 1995.
• DelFattore J., The Fourth R. Conflicts Over Religion in America’s Public Life, New Haven & London 2004.
• DeNisco A., New Laws Make More Room for Prayer in Schools, “District Administration”, June 2014.
• Dierenfield B. J., The Battle over School Prayer: How Engel v. Vitale Changed America, Lawrence, KS 2007.
• Haynes Ch. C., A Teacher’s Guide to Religion in the Public Schools, Nashville, TN 1999.
• Murray B. T., Religious Liberty in America: The First Amendment in Historical and Contemporary Perspective, Amherst, MA 2008.
• U.S. Department of Education, Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, February 7, 2003.
• U.S. Department of Education, Religious Expression in Public Schools: A Statement of Principles. [Washington, DC]: U.S. Dept. of Education, 1999.
• Zimmerman J., Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools, Cambridge, MA, and London 2005.

Identifiers

DOI

10.25312/2391-5137.10/2016_49-60

Biblioteka Nauki

2216293