It was a good dream, and I remember thinking that it had been a long time since my sleep hadn't been tortured with nightmares. Usually I don't look forward to going to sleep at night, but if I keep dreaming like this, I might just try to put in some more hours of rest. In my dream, I could fly. I stood outside my house, looked up at the sky, and soared into the beautiful blue atmosphere. I was free from all my troubles, and I felt complete and at peace with the world. Too bad it's not real. So, with some very pleasurable fragments of that dream still lingering in my mind, I awoke and got ready for school.
I hate school. I mean, I wouldn't really mind going, if all that happened there was education, but ever since the Religious Freedom Amendment was added to the Constitution, school has become a religious battleground. The goal of the amendment was to restore state-written prayers, allow group prayer in public school, and to legalize voluntary prayer ("What Would a School Prayer Amendment Do?"). During the promotion of the amendment, I heard all kinds of reasons from the Religious Right saying that the bill should be passed. They had bishops saying that taking prayer out of school told people that prayer is not important, and that this removed the most important aspect of school, respect to God (Wallis). They said that we shouldn't worry about the non-religious since they wouldn't be emotionally scarred by having to say a prayer in school, and that the only reason school prayer is being fought is because it is contrary to the values that the "elite" want to press in the minds of children (Feder). Preachers and other religious fanatics came on the TV and said that the removal of God from the classroom has removed all inhibitors on human behavior (Wallis), and that it has lead to many acts of violence and corrupt morals .
At first, the public bought all these lies without so much as a second thought, but once the amendment was put into affect, school became a living hell. First of all, the highly religious teachers used the amendment to justify leading their classes in prayer, and they didn't even bother to respect the different religions present in their classrooms. All they did was make us say the kind of prayer that they wanted ("What Would"). Another major problem came about when the school realized that it could create a majority rule system of religion where the minority could be thrown aside ("School Prayer Amendment Threatens Bill of Rights"). Even though the school claims that its prayers are non-denominational, you can easily see that they are tilted toward Christianity ("What Would"). Again, this is not fair. The most terrible product of this so called "freedom" amendment is the fact that it causes members of different religious groups to fight against each other, many times very violently ("Some Religious Leaders Protest Armey School Prayer Amendment"). The conflict wasn't really that bad before the amendment. The worst disputes were just some fanatical Satanists or atheists making fun of the Christians, or the Christians making fun of them. Now, however, when one group is forced to take part in a religious activity that they disagree with, they become excessively violent about it ("School Prayer") and will even sometimes start riots.
I live in fear of going to school now because I am no longer free to believe what I want to. I am attacked from all sides for believing the way I do and practicing my religion the way I want. You see, I'm a Christian. However, I'm not a fanatic. Things were fine before the amendment passed because all I had to do was sit down and pray silently whenever I wanted. Silent prayer has always been legal in school, as has group prayer as long as it wasn't state supported, sponsored, or required ("Prayer in the Public Schools"). I didn't bother anyone, and no one bothered me. Now, on the other hand, I am attacked by the non-Christians for being Christian, and I am attacked by members of my own religion for not being as vocal and fanatical as they are. The opposers of the amendment were right, school prayer is an infringement on the rights of all students (Sanchez). Even Jesus says in the bible that "when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men . . .", and he also said that "when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to they Father which is in secret." (Holy Bible Matt 6:5-5). What's really terrible is that, even though all this is happening, the Religious Right is celebrating their victory, and I am here living a very miserable existence.
So, with all these thoughts spinning through my head. I headed out the door and drove off to school. My name is Luke, by the way, and there's nothing really special about me. I'm your "kid-next-door" kinda guy. I do pretty well in school, and I don't play any sports. I feel strongly that everyone has the right to believe whatever they want to, and that no one should press their religion on anyone else. Unfortunately, this stupid religious freedom amendment really stands in the way of that. Anyway, I finally got to school and headed for homeroom.
Let me say that I despise homeroom. And do you know why? It's because all the major religious activity goes on during this twenty-five minute hell. You can feel the tension as you enter this cold white cell, and you can also notice that everyone has divided themselves into little groups by their religious beliefs. I see the point in this, and that is the simple fact of safety in numbers. I sat down in the back corner of the room and said a silent prayer that I wouldn't be assaulted by anyone today. It didn't work. The Christians started out by yelling at me for not joining their ranks, and the non-religious countered by making fun of my God. As I studied the two groups, their voices began to drown out, and I realized that I was witnessing something rather extraordinary. This being that these two opposing groups were actually sharing a moment together, fighting for the same common goal. And that goal is to make fun of me. Yeah... I feel honored.
Soon after the two groups had settled down, the bell rang and the first of the day's atrocities began. The school wide prayer that had been written by the state, and was mandated that all students say it, was read over the intercom as follows, "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessing on us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen." ("What would"). Uh huh... non-denominational my butt. After the prayer was finished, I looked around the room and soon realized that this was going to be a very bad day.
The Satanists were at it again. This time they had a bible and proceeded to rip out, devour, and stomp the pages into the ground. They were all standing up and chanting in a language that I didn't understand, and this, of course, pissed off the fanatic Christians. The Christians retaliated in screaming at the Satanists, and the Satanists just yelled right back. One thing led to another, and a massive fight had broken out. The teacher, of course, was no where to be seen. I sat back and watched the fight, almost enjoying the fact that the people who were making fun of me earlier were now having the snot beat out of them, but my extreme disgust of violence kicked in and was soon feeling very sick. The Satanist were coming out on top since there were no football jocks in my homeroom, so several other religious groups who despised the Devil worshippers joined in the fray. At about this point, I realized that this was going to get ugly and decided to leave the classroom immediately. I was almost out the door when I felt someone grab the back of my shirt. Fear and tension rushed through every part of my body. I said another prayer that it was a teacher grabbing me, but to my horror, I swung around and was greeted with a fist courtesy of a fanatic Christian. I saw the ball of flesh and bone coming towards me in slow motion but was unable to react, and with shattering force, it connected with my face. The world seemed to go dark for a second as I felt my body fly through the air, and I hardly noticed when it slammed against the cold hard floor.
I looked up from my prostrated position and realized that the door was only a few inches away, so I pulled myself outside the rampaging classroom and sat against the wall. I didn't really care when the teachers and administrators came running down the hall, and I didn't really care as they dragging the majority of the kids down to the office. They didn't even notice me, and I took this as a blessing since it would cause me the least amount of trouble. So, I slowly rose to my feet and walked into the classroom to get my books.
As I headed towards my first period class, I rubbed my jaw. It wasn't cut, but I was going to have one nasty bruise. I remember thinking that I'd have to make up some lie so my parents would not get involved in this mess. The rest of my day went by in a blur. Taking down notes, handing in homework, and even a quiz in English seemed to rush by me like... like my life. Fortunately, I didn't have any other problems with the religious issue for the rest of the day. The only other awful event to happen was when I realized that my graduation ceremony would be nothing more than a massive religious service. Before the amendment, religious activity at graduation ceremonies was prohibited ("What About Prayer During Graduation Ceremonies and Official School Activities?"), but now, the school is allowed to be as religious as they want. I can't wait to see the kinds of riots that will be started there.
So after what seemed like years, I heard the sweet song of the final bell, and I made my way out to my car while clinging to the remnants of joy that going home brought me. Once I reached my car, I slowly drove home knowing full well that regardless of what I dreamed tonight, I would only awake to another hell tomorrow.
Feder, Don. "Culture War: America Wants School Prayer." [Online] Available
http://www.cc.org/publications/ca/0195/ca0123.html, 23 Oct. 97.
Holy Bible: King James Version. Camden: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1970.
"Prayer In The Public Schools." [Online] Available
http://www.religioustolerance.org/prayer.htm, 23 Oct. 97.
Sanchex, Julian. "Let us NOT pray, please!" [Online] Available
http://www.nvnet.k12.nj.us/newsweb/artibles/trends/prayercon.html, 23 Oct. 97.
"School Prayer Amendment Threatens Bill of Rights." [Online] Available
http://www.tialliance.org/tia/schoolprayerthreat.htm, 23 Oct. 97.
"Some Religious Leaders Protest Armey School Prayer Amendment." [Online] Available
http://www2.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/nation/072296/nation3_29673.html, 23 Oct. 97.
Wallis, James R Jr. "Annual Prayer Day Approaches." [Online] Available
http://www.cc.org/publications/ca/0495/ca0411.html, 23 Oct. 97.
"What About Prayer During Graduation Ceremonies and Official School Activities?" [Online]
Available
http://www.louisville.edu/~tnpete01/church/pray2d.htm, 23 Oct. 97