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Resources
Discussion Questions
- What is the “Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act”?
An Illinois law requiring a moment of silence at the start of the school day in the state’s public schools. Previously in Illinois, a moment of silence had been allowed but not required. The law does not specify how the moment should be carried out, and carries no penalties for schools that do not comply.
- Why has the law been challenged in federal court?
A student and her father maintain that the new law is an attempt to require prayer in school and, as such, violates the U.S. Constitution.
- What was the federal court’s ruling?
The judge refused to immediately block the law, but allowed the case against it to move forward.
- The First Amendment, applied to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment, states in part “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion….” Keeping this limit on government in mind, do you believe the Illinois law is unconstitutional? Why or why not?
Answers will vary. Some students will say it does not appear to violate the First Amendment, as the government has not established an official religion—there is no specific prayer that students must say or faith they must profess. The moment of silence need not be used for prayer (though students have that opportunity and may elect to pray silently, as they may do at any time during the day. Others will say that the law does appear to violate the First Amendment. The title of the law reveals lawmakers’ intent to encourage students to pray. Forcing classes to conduct a moment of silence will effectively bring organized prayer into the classroom, and students of minority religions or who do not practice any religion will be treated as outsiders.
- In 1985, the Supreme Court was asked to determine the constitutionality of an Alabama law that authorized teachers to set aside a period of silence for “meditation or voluntary prayer.” In that case, Wallace v. Jaffree, the Supreme Court struck down the law. The Court reasoned that the law did not have a secular purpose, but was rather intended to promote religion. Do you agree with the Court’s ruling? Why or why not?
Answers will vary.
- Thomas Jefferson said in his Letter to the Danbury Baptists (1802),
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God…I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”
Why do you think Jefferson wrote this?
Jefferson wanted to reassure the Danbury Baptists that the federal government would not interfere with their church The First Amendment provides two protections for citizens: freedom from an official religion in the United States, and freedom to exercise one’s faith (or no faith) without interference from government. Jefferson’s metaphor of a “wall of separation,” while not appearing in the Constitution, illustrates the way government and religious institutions in the United States are able to operate independently of each other. Some students may add that Thomas Jefferson was a champion of religious liberty. His Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786) led to that commonwealth to disestablish its official church, and other states with official religions soon followed suit.
Extensions
Have students research the Supreme Court cases Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Wallace v. Jaffree (1985). In pairs or trios, have them answer the following questions
- Compare and contrast the Regent’s Prayer at issue in Engel with the practice required by the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act.
- Compare and contrast the Alabama law at issue in Wallace v. Jaffree (1985) with the Illinois law.
- If the suit challenging the Illinois law eventually were to make it to the Supreme Court, how might the lawyers from either side use the Engel and Wallace rulings in their arguments?
Students can begin their research at:
Engel v. Vitale
http://citizenbee.org/user/StudentGuide.aspx?id=676
Wallace v. Jaffree
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1984/1984_83_812/
