UNITED STATES−President Donald Trump spoke out about religious freedom and warned school administrators could lose federal funding if school’s infringe upon the rights of a student’s religious expression.
President Trump held an event on Thursday, January 16 for the National Day of Religious Freedom. He invited Christian, Muslim, and Jewish teachers in addition to students.
Prayer in school was banned by the United States Supreme Court in 1962 noting it was in violation of student’s First Amendment rights only allowing private prayer, and group prayer meetings with no pressure. Many schools participate in an annual “Meet me at the Pole” prayer event.
“Never stand between people and their God. It is totally unacceptable,” said President Trump. “You see it on the football field. You see it so many times where they are stopped from praying, and we are doing something to stop that.”
A 9-year-old boy who was reportedly forced to remove the ashes from his forehead on Ash Wednesday attended the event. The marking of ashes on the forehead is a practice in the Catholic Church on the first day of Lent, 40 days before Easter.
The U.S. Department of Education released the “Guidance of Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools” that explains what the protections include.
The purpose of the updated details is to provide information on the current state of the law about religious expression in public schools. Part I is an introduction. Part II clarifies the extent to which prayer in public schools is legally protected.
