To Pray, or Not to Pray—That is the Question…

…whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the prayers and petitions of religiously inclined superiors, or to file lawsuit against this sea of troubles, and by opposing end them.
--Hamlet (sort of)

Three years after the Air Force Academy adopted new regulations to discourage public prayer at official events, other military academies are fielding complaints that their schools attempt to force religion onto students. Neela Banerjee reports for the New York Times that at the Naval Academy “nine midshipmen recently asked the American Civil Liberties Union to petition the school to abolish daily prayer at weekday lunch, where attendance is mandatory.” Several cadets from West Point have registered complaints about the former head of the academy, Maj. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, who invoked God and the Bible in his speeches to the cadets. The history of this conflict explains why the issue of religious activity in schools has become an aggressive, full-scale assault on both sides.

The landmark 1962 Supreme Court case which struck down prayer in public schools opened the door for legal action against public religious practices in other institutions. In his book With God On Our Side, William Martin details the rise of the religious right in American politics and notes that critics of the Supreme Court’s decision viewed it “as a declaration of war against Christianity, a conviction that has not diminished over time.” Conservative shock and anger at liberals for questioning established religious practices is evidenced by the reaction of Col. John J. Cook III, head chaplain at West Point. When questioned about West Point’s practice of praying before meals, he argues “this is something we have done in the military for centuries.” Noting that the military academies are schools where many students hold devout religious beliefs, he continues “It is not done to make people religious.” Non-religious students, however, still view it as oppressive. Martin notes that despite a 1982 attempt to pass a Constitutional Amendment to protect “individual or group prayer” in schools, over the years liberal lawsuits against public prayers and other religious activities have gradually transformed the public arena into a more religiously-neutral zone.

As courts continue to ban public religious practices based on petitions from a small group of people, conservatives have become irate over the court’s willingness to deny the majority’s opinion in order to acquiesce to the demands of a minority. A majority of students at the military academies do not object to mealtime prayer and Banerjee reports that West Point students surveyed at random reported they did not feel religion was forced upon them. Non-religious students counter that maintaining religious activities show favoritism to those with religious beliefs and therefore should not be permitted in public institutions. Based on historical precedent, it is likely mealtime prayer will be prohibited if the ACLU’S petition to the Naval Academy turns into a lawsuit. This conflict centers on two questions: is any form of public religious activity, even if it does not endorse a particular religion, discriminatory because it excludes those who do not hold any religious beliefs? Should the religious requests of a minority group supersede the religious requests of a majority, so as to ensure that the minority does not feel oppressed by the beliefs of the majority? It is unfortunate that any compromise appears to be unlikely, as each side will accept only the complete legal adoption of their viewpoint.