New Hampshire is not known for being a religious state, so it may shock some to learn that a law remains on the books that allows schools to “authorize” recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. It’s a quiet law because schools do not use it, and rightfully so. The law is unconstitutional.
This week, the N.H. House of Representatives has the opportunity to take the first step toward repealing this outdated and unconstitutional law, and hopefully it will.
Since the 1960s, the federal courts have made it crystal clear that officially sponsored prayer and proselytizing are not acceptable in the school environment.
Prayer can be many things, but to paraphrase the definition given in the Supreme Court case Edwards v. Aguillard, prayer is talking to God(s) – either out loud or silently, alone or with others. Using the Supreme Court’s definition, the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer, and an inherently Christian one. The prayer, also referred to as “Our Father,” opens with, “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
The N.H. law allowing schools to authorize the Lord’s Prayer states that “pupils shall be reminded that this Lord’s prayer is the prayer our pilgrim fathers recited when they came to this country in their search for freedom.” Such a “reminder” in no way lessens the religiousness of the prayer or makes it acceptable for school officials to oversee its recitation in the classroom. As a side note, reciting such a prayer is also completely unnecessary for the purposes of teaching history.
Some will argue this week that repealing this law violates students’ religious freedom when actually the opposite is true. Students do have a right to religious freedom at school. The Free Exercise and Free Speech clauses of the U.S. Constitution give students the right to pray and to express religious views at school, so long as it does not materially disrupt school activities. However, public schools do not have such a right and are expressly prohibited from authorizing, endorsing or supporting prayer in the classroom. When schools authorize recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, it threatens students’ individual rights to believe and practice any religion of their choosing, rather than promote religious freedom
No institutionalized prayer means that educators cannot require or encourage students to recite prayers or organize a “student initiated” prayer, and that schools may not “endorse” prayers, for example, by allowing students to recite a prayer using the school announcement system. Additionally, educators cannot pray with students when they are acting in their official capacity. All of these non-permitted activities are permitted by this law, which states clearly that “a school district may authorize the recitation of the traditional Lord’s Prayer in public elementary schools.”
The law mentions that when the Lord’s Prayer is recited, schools should explain that it is not meant to influence the religious views of those reciting it. This may be well meaning, but it is meaningless in the eyes of the law. Telling someone not to be influenced by something is a bit like telling people not to think about purple elephants: the first thing that happens is people think about purple elephants. Being that this law is specifically aimed at elementary school children, meaning those between the ages of 6 and 12, telling them not to be influenced by it is laughable, especially when that instruction comes from a teacher. Even telling the child that reciting the prayer is voluntary does not lessen the influence that a teacher has over a child or the influence hearing the prayer could have.
Students and families have the right to decide for themselves where and when to pray and which faith, if any faith, to follow, without direct or indirect pressure from school officials. The ACLU supports House Bill 289 in the overdue repeal of this law. Children may pray at public schools, but public schools cannot require, encourage or endorse such prayer.
(Jeanne Hruska is the political director of the ACLU of New Hampshire.)