Quit Thinking School Prayer Is Banned

[rug]

December 8, 2011
By Jeffrey Weiss

I suppose it's not really news that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is hoping that an emphasis on putting the Christ in Christmas will put his supporters into seats at the Iowa caucuses. After all, the unofficial kickoff of his presidential campaign was a Christian prayer rally in a football stadium.

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The grammar is a bit ambiguous, so I'm not sure if he means to say that schools prohibit Christmas and prayer or if the Christmas thing is a more universal attack on open celebration. Either way, no matter what one thinks of Perry's candidacy, this one is another major "oops" for the campaign.

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Wrote AP political reporter Beth Fouhy: "The Supreme Court prohibited school prayer in two landmark decisions in 1962 and 1963, calling it an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment."

Which is sooo close to being correct. The court actually prohibited mandatory school prayer. And that one word makes all the difference. (See: Twain, Mark on lightning-bug vs. lightning.)

http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2011/12/08/quit_thinking_school_prayer_is_banned.html