See You At the Pole

So many biblical babies out here, especially those that hide their lack of critical thought behind the guise of patriotism because they do not want to consider what may have been taught from childhood contrary to the truth.

Why do we see so many posts complaining out of ignorance that prayer was taken out of schools? Had the so-called Biblical scholars among us paid attention not only in high school civics and government classes but also to the news outside of their narrow prisms, then they would know the real reason for the Supreme Court verdict back in the 1950s. 

As you can tell, this is not a "Leave It to Beaver" type of post which portrayed a simpler period and simultaneously erase if not outright dismiss the conditions for a number of us. A few years ago, MAGAs and their subject of idolatry were asked to find the exact year when America was last great in their minds.

The year? 1957. 

What was that year like? The interstate system was nearing completion for transcontinental travel for certain families to travel the USA in their Chevrolet Bel Airs, suburbia was still being built with both low-interest loans and covenant agreements, my mom was a newborn, my dad was a ten-year-old, and the Supreme Court decided that prayer in public school could not be led by teachers or administrators. It wasn't that long ago.

The Engel v. Vitale case heard in the Supreme Court in 1962 states its verdict and proceedings. As a reference, the plaintiffs were Jewish, Unitarian, an atheist, and people who felt a mandatory prayer before school infringed upon students' rights to a quality education without bias - and due to the atheist, this case becomes a liberal agenda flashpoint for most conservatives akin to Roe v. Wade today. Research the aforementioned case before getting your panties in a bunch. 

Keep in mind this is in the early phases of the Civil Rights Movement, many of which the most vocal 'christians' among us were sternly opposed to any Black progress. Need examples? Brown v. Board of Education was in 1954, and Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus got punked by the federal government when troops escorted the Little Rock Nine three years later to Central High School. Then let's not delve deeply into the consequences that came from voting but death and unemployment were two of the prices Black people paid.

Years later and as early as junior high, I could recall the See You At the Pole festivities on campus as students prayed around the school's flagpole for the school year, the nation, and the Christian faith. Disclaimer:  I did participate in one my sophomore year at Henderson State; this comes from a place of having to find myself as I was torn between what was deemed an acceptable way of being Christlike and a developing worldview that did not quite always allay itself to a strict interpretation of spirituality. 

As of 2005, SYATP has gone worldwide with over two million people in collective prayer. This has not gone unnoticed nor without legal bumps in the road as complaints of the 1st Amendment being infringed as the most common allegation with a blurring of official endorsement or interference, according to the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District decision of the US Supreme Court —as well as a 1995 Clinton Administration  assignment of the President's Secretary of Education for legalization of particular school religious activities as long as they passed constitutional guidelines. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also approves of student-led SYATP events held before or after school, provided the school neither encourages nor discourages participation.

In other already reiterated words, prayer in school is cool - it cannot be led by adults, teachers, or pastors on-campus. It is also important for students to know their 1A rights and the limitations of their contextual usage:  Just because you can yell "Fire!" in a movie theater does not mean it is a good idea.