Senator Tommy Tuberville’s maiden speech exemplifies the reason I think a biography of Madalyn Murray O’Hair might be a worthwhile effort.
Two groups that promote religious secularism are taking aim at Republican Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville’s inaugural Senate floor speech in which the former college football coach advocated bringing “God and prayer back into schools.”
Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, and the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued statements Tuesday condemning the freshman senator for wrongly suggesting that prayer had been removed from U.S. public schools.
One wonders, of course, Is Tuberville a bona fide ignoramus who simply doesn’t know that prayer has never, in fact, been banned from school, or is he a cheap demagogue playing to the ignoramuses amongst his constituents?
I’m going to assume he’s an ignoramus bellowing in good faith, rather than a manipulative cynic exploiting ignoramuses.
Prayer has never been banned in school — never — and just a moment or two of thought reveals the truth of that; how could voluntary prayer by students be banned in school? How would Satanic administrators go about preventing a student from thinking, or whispering-to-self, a prayer? It’s ridiculous on its face.
What the Supreme Court proscribed is teacher-led prayer, which is an establishment of religion and therefore unlawful. If Tuberville, and evangelicals in general, had a lick of sense they’d be grateful for the Supreme Court decision, because it’s a safe bet that their children would encounter teachers with a wide range of religions, and nearly all parents would find at least a few of them noxious.
The humdrum truth is probably that the Pious resent the loss of cultural supremacy that the decision signifies.