AboutDean Gade Expertise The First Amendment. Early writings of the USA founding fathers.
Recent Supreme court rulings on church and state. The meaning of "separation of church and state" given by the Amendment and by the Bible. Knowledge of websites which speak to this matter.
Experience I am an ordained minister earned degrees: BA, BTh, MDiv and almost thirty years in parish work.
I have also studied the First Amendment and believe that I have a good understanding of what our founding fathers meant by writing it.
Expert: Dean Gade Date: 7/25/2008 Subject: Prayer in school
Question How would you respond to the argument that taking prayer out of the schools leads to incidents like the Colombine school shootings? And what exactly is wrong with prayer in school? Isn't American a Christian nation founded on Christian principles? Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Linda
Answer The goal of taking prayer out of public schools is to get God out of the lives of people..... especialy chldren. This has been the goal of God's enemy since our first parents walked on earth.
It is a violation of the First Amendment to pass laws which prohibit free speech or prohibit the free exercise of a person's religion:
FIRST AMENDMENT
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
But the battle is not a political one. It is spiritual. Because it is spiritual, the arguement against people/children being ALLOWED to pray makes no sense even though those who prohibit them consider themselves to be wise.
Eph 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood , but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
NIV
The USA is not a "Christian nation". The Articles of our foundation as a nation were written primarily by Christians who prayed to and gave glory to God. But these articles made clear that the government was not to make any laws creating a state religion or prohibiting any person's religion.
What we have seen is the government MAKING LAWS PROHIBITING the free exercise of Christianity using the false arguement that Christianity is, was or might become a state relgion.
Our stance, as Christians, is that ALL religions of our citizens should be allowed to be exercised in public places. We see this to be what the First Amendment says. Those opposing our freedom have built a wall of separation that does not exist in any of the articles of our foundation as a nation.
Yes, there are consequences when anyone opposes godliness. Many politicians have not seen that written laws cannot restrain people from evil like personal internal restraint can do within individuals.
But no matter how much worse these evil and deadly things become, these people are blind to the connection between the evil deeds and the lack of godliness.
