Prayers and Pledges

 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, One nation, Under GOD,  indivisable, with liberty and justice for all. AMEN

Many people coming into the USA brought their own ideas about Prayer and Bible reading and beliefs, 

From 1910 on, legal challenges were brought against having Bible reading in public schools on the ground that students should not be forced to practice a faith other than their own.

Two landmark Supreme Court  decisions in the 1960's banned prayer in public school: They ruled against public school prayer in 1962 which that decision struck down a New York State law that required schools to start the day with either a Bible reading or a recitation of a specially written  non-denominational prayer. 

 In 1963 the Supreme Court struck down voluntary Bible readings and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in public schools.  

In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled against a Kentucky Law that required a posting of the Ten Commandments in all public schools.

In 1981 the Supreme court ruled that a University could not prohibit a religious group from using facilities that were made open for use by all kinds of organizations.  Three years later the Equal Access Group guaranteed all student religious groups the same rights as other groups.

In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that school officials violated the First Amendment by inviting the clergy to give an invocation and a benediction at a public high school graduation. 

In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled against a Texas school district policy of facilitating prayers over the public address system at football games and holding elections to choose the student selected to deliver the prayer.

Some legal challenges in the 90's and 2000's brought wide spread news about lawsuits against schools that put forth requirements and punished students who didn't obey them. But with terrorist attacks on the United States many schools tried to bring back the Pledge into their schools, reviving dormant laws.  In 2004 the Supreme Court reviewed a case about whether the Pledge violated the Constitution, but the court decided the case on procedural grounds not on the constitutionality of it. 

We need to instill in our children the belief that the Bible is the authority over all things - it is God's way of protecting the people from evil things. The more who read and use the Bible as the ultimate answer to everything, the better a country is, the better a home is, the better education is, the better the world can become.  I said the pledge of allegiance in school, and also the Lord's prayer which I still say today as it is the way to bring me back to following God's commandments, and to help all others who are in need.