Palmer Blevins Blog

This article is featured on Helium.com

There is absurd war on religious freedom being waged in the US by those who relish the idea of turning schools in Illinois into quaint little Christian madrasas. Illinois is at the center of this controversy due to our wonderful Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act, which was vetoed by then IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich, overridden by the IL General Assembly, struck down in federal court and then subsequently suspended in May of 2008; and the modern day Pharisees otherwise known as the Christian right are up in arms.

In a recently sponsored bill by Representative John Fritchey (D-Chicago), the law would be changed to make it voluntary, instead of mandatory, moment for “silent prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated activities of the day.” Religious zealots are not happy with this proposed change, and fail to see the hypocrisy that lie in their desire to have government mandate obligatory religous practice. These are the very people who feign outrage in regards to supposed government intrusion into their beliefs and daily lives; but when it affects non-fundamentalist Christians…it is more than acceptable. No other religious group, be it Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, etc., is making a fuss over the propposed change; and it is not like the law is forbidding reflective silence or silent prayer.

Our modern day Inquisitors and Puritans should understand that enforcing a mandatory moment of prayer or reflective silence is not going to end the problems plaguing our public schools; it is not going to end bullying, drugs, unruly students from misbehaving…nor will it prevent guns and other weapons from entering our schools. Our modern day witch-hunters seek to sneak religion into a sphere of society that will not benefit from its enforcement; and instead of blaming the ills of society on liberals, secularists, atheists and the producers of Will & Grace, they should spend their energies like the rest of us; on matters that truly are of consequence (like the economy).

If a teacher or student wishes to take a moment to step outside of a classroom to a designated area for a moment of silent reflection or prayer, more power to them. But the legislators and religious zealots pushing for mandatory reflection or prayer need to back off. Just as they would not like their children to be forced to observe a moment steeped in religion, they should not be so callous and disrespectful to force children who are not their own to do the same. As a taxpayer, there is a lot that I would like to see done in Illinois’ public school system; but mandatory religion is not something I am keen on paying for or having my representative to vote on. If a parent wants his/her son or daughter to pray or observe a moment of silence there are numerous parochial schools and there is always home. Let’s keep religion a private matter. America was founded on the principal of religious freedom; where an individual was able to worship, or not worship, free from not only government intervention but also from those who have nothing better to do than be concerned with what others are doing. It is time to end the war on religious freedom being waged by a small sector of society that have their knickers so tightly bound that they can barely fit their heads up their own keisters anymore.