THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
BETWEEN YOU & ME
BORIS SMOLAR
The issue of introducing religious activities in the pub-
lic school system is not dead in Congress, as many think,
after the recent defeat in the Senate of the proposal for a
Constitutional amendment to permit vocal praying in
schools. Five days earlier, on March 15, the Senate also
rejected in a roll-call vote of 81-15 a proposed Constitu-
tional amendment to authorize periods of silent prayer in
public schools. It appeared to many that the battle was
over.
But the battle is not over. A major campaign to rein-
troduce religion into the public school system is now being
conducted quietly but forcefully in both houses of Congress,
with a strong chance that it will win this time. Little atten-
tion is being paid to this campaign by the public. In fact,
most Americans, even Jews, are not aware of it.
Three bills — two in the Senate and one in the House —
are requesting Congressional sanction of the use of public
school premises for student-initiated religious activities
during non-instructional periods. If passed, they would
bring group prayers in schools, Bible study and religious
discussion in which outside adults could participate. And,
unlike the proposal for a Constitutional amendment, the
bills stand a chance to be adopted because there is no public
counter-action against them, since they are unknown to the
public.
The bill in the House of Representatives, introduced by
Rep. Don Bonker (D-Wash.) was approved quietly earlier
this month in a Congressional committee by a vote of 30-3,
indicating the mood in the House. It was reported out for a
session of the House and will be taken up in early May.
Of the two separate bills in the Senate, one restricts the
student-initiated activities to secondary schools, while the
other extends permission for religious activities in elemen-
tary schools as well.
All three bills seek so-called "equal access" for
student-initiated religious groups. They want these groups
to be permitted to meet on school premises for prayer and
discussion. They argue that such permission is given to
student groups interested in music and other non-religious
subjects.
It is no secret that a number of Senators who voted
against the proposal to introduce voluntary vocal prayers
in schools by way of a Constitutional amendment are basi-
cally for religious activities in schools in one form or an-
other. They really voted not against the introduction of the
prayer, but against doing it through a Constitutional
amendment. They simply did not want to tamper with the
Constitution. They thought that the measure could be
achieved through the simple, traditional way of Congres-
sional legislation.
The Protestant groups — the National Council of
Churches, United Presbyterian Church, and the Baptist
Joint Committee on Public Affairs — who joined the Jewish
organizations as allies in opposing the proposed Constitu-
tional amendment, have endorsed "equal access." It is
therefore doubtful whether they will oppose the bills in the
House and the Senate as they opposed the proposed change
in the Constitution.
This places the Jewish organizations in a great predi-
cament. For them to oppose "equal access" when their
Christian church allies have endorsed it would not only be
an exercise in futility, but might well be perceived as a
manifestation of hostility toward religion in general.
On the other hand, it is quite clear that Jews must
oppose "equal access" in high schools not only because this
demand may open the schools for propagandists of pro-
selytizing groups. Unlike other kinds of speech in public
schools, religious expression on an organized basis — even
if student-initiated and student-run — has the potential for
abuses and divisiveness. It does not belong in public
schools, which are attended by students of many faiths.
The issue of "equal access" will be on the agenda of the
four-day annual meeting of the American Jewish Commit-
tee, beginning May 2 in New York. An entire plenary
session will be devoted to it.
One of the two bills in the Senate providing for "equal
access" was introduced by Sen. Jeremiah Denton (R-Ala.).
It requests "equal access and opportunity to public school
students who wish to meet voluntarily for religious pur-
poses." It would cut off federal aid to school districts which
deny students or faculty — and groups of students or fa-
culty — the opportunity "to engage in voluntary prayer,
religious discussion or silent meditation on school premises
during non-instructional periods." The measure would
apply not merely to high schools but to elementary schools
as well.
The second bill, entitled "The Religious Speech Protec-
tion Act" was introduced by Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.)
and 14 other Senators. It provides that "it shall be unlawful
for a public secondary school receiving federal assistance,
which generally allows groups of students to meet during
non-instructional periods, to discriminate against any
meeting of students on the basis of the religious content of
speech at such meeting.
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