In addition to President-elect Donald Trump’s words: “Closing of the Ministry of National Education“One of the most disturbing aspects of the educational platform is its promise:”Support bringing prayer back to our schools.” How could he bring back something that was never gone? “As long as there are math testsThere will be prayer in schools,” said the late James Dunn of the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty.

As a matter of fact, students’ freedom to worship is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, and contrary to Trump’s promise, students are allowed to gather and pray together on school grounds. The government’s neutrality towards religion gives students the freedom to pray or not pray as they wish, without fear or favor.

What is not allowed is government sponsored prayer. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that government-sponsored prayers in public schools violated the First Amendment. Is this the kind of compelling prayer that Trump wants to “bring back?” Do schools lead students in prayer? Trump’s school prayer charade is not about students’ freedom to pray or not pray as their conscience dictates, but about using the power of government to force students to pray a certain way.

This week, in what could be a warning sign for Trump, a federal court issued a ruling saying Louisiana cannot enforce the new law, citing a 1980 Supreme Court case. Requesting the publication of the Ten Commandments in every classroom in every public school in the state. The state promises to appeal, but the Supreme Court, no matter how conservative, has not (yet) given the green light to completely dismantling healthy boundaries between religion and government. The floodgates have not (yet) opened. The crackdown on school prayer supported by Trump and his allies remains unconstitutional.

Trump’s apparent push for more compelling prayers in schools is part of his broader campaign to continually victimize his supporters.

To reiterate: There is currently nothing in schools that prevents students from praying individually or collectively. But one often hears complaints from conservative Christians about how terrible it is that prayers are being removed from schools. Imagine the Supreme Court rejecting a new law or policy that would force students to pray in school. This will inevitably reinforce the idea that prayers are being removed from schools and increase the grievances that fuel Trump’s political support.

Trump did this school prayer edition It was in its first term, so what has changed now? The far-right religious law movement is sparked by the 2022 Supreme Court decision Kennedy v. which involved a school football coach praying with students at the 50-yard line. In light of the Bremerton decision, he sees a huge opportunity for his cause. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in an opinion for a 6-3 court that the coach “prayed silently while his students were busy” and did not decide his actions at midfield.

According to Gorsuch’s statement of the facts, the Kennedy case did not green light coercive, government-sponsored school prayer. Biden’s Department of Education released updated guidance on prayer in public schools following this case. fortifying The Constitution’s long-standing understanding: “Teachers, school administrators, and other school employees shall not encourage or discourage private prayer or other religious activities.”

Even so, since then a Widespread pressure for more prayer and religious observance in public schools nationwide. In addition to Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida have also passed laws allowing “school chaplains” in public schools.

“Groups that monitor church-state affairs say efforts across the country to fund and strengthen religion — and more specifically, a certain type of Christian — are more abundant and aggressive than they have been in years.” Washington Post reported. Advocates of more government-sponsored prayer “think the Supreme Court has righted the American ship after half a century of wrongly separating church and state.”

These efforts undermine the purported cause of religious freedom. Attacking public schools means fueling grievances among his political base and blaming problems in schools on the lack of government-mandated prayer. It is a tactic to spread division and incite anger.

Forcing our nation’s students to pray as Trump sees fit will only increase polarization. Following the government’s chosen prayer does not unite us. We as Americans are united by the freedom to pray, worship and believe as we choose.