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The Bounds of Silence
Posted By Stefan Monsaureus
Will Okun, in an opinion piece in the New York Times today, writes about the State of Illinois decision to mandate a moment of silence in its public schools, and the obvious motives of its backers to re-introduce prayer into the school day. Among the points he makes is that prayer, and a faith-based worldview in general, divert attention from real causes and place important problems within the realm of God’s infinite wisdom.
Similarly, I view this “moment of silence” legislation in the same vein. Instead of addressing the social conditions, funding shortfalls and inadequate schools that have caused the tragic state of education in America’s low-income communities, our legislators are instead promoting disguised prayer as their priority.
Although I am staunchly secular, a moment of silence seems a minimal point to surrender to religious conservatives. The risk, of course, is that this minor intrusion into the school day is the camel’s nose under the tent, and will lead to increased demands for verbal prayer or structured observance during this period. If our children lead such busy and harried lives that they cannot find another moment in the day for silent prayer, though, we may have bigger problems to address, and may want to consider how the stress in their lives leads to the sorts of behavior a moment of silence would supposedly mitigate.
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16 October 2007
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