The Myth About School Prayer

I've seen this little "poll," for lack of a better description, floating around Facebook.  Do you think they should put prayer back in school?

The question it is asking is flawed.  You see, prayer never left the schools.  There is no law anywhere, in any town, city, county, state, or federal level, that has banned prayer in school.  Nowhere.  The law simply doesn't exist.  Every child today, at any time, can legally pray at any time during the school day, as can any teacher, secretary, janitor, coach, or principal.  They can pray before a test, after a test, at recess, in the cafeteria, wherever.  That is what freedom of religion means.

What is NOT allowed is for any member of the school faculty to lead a prayer in which the children are required to participate.  That is what is in the Constitution.  That is what separation of church and state means.  Why should a Jewish kid, or a Buddhist kid, or even a Muslim kid have to be forced to listen to a Christian prayer in a public school?  Ask yourself, if they were to say a Muslim prayer, would you be OK with that?  Would you be OK with all the children going out to the playground and facing east to pray to Allah?  No, you wouldn't.  So why should it be OK for a Christian prayer.

Hasn't the bloodshed in Afghanistan over the Koran burning demonstrated how state sponsorship of religion is bad thing?