Every morning at Queen’s College, I started my day with a recitation of the Lord’s prayer. A Christian prayer, prior to my attendance at Queen’s College I had not been exposed to. It always bothered me then, and it continues to bother me now that a public school, run by the Government of Guyana, a State which claims to be secular, practiced such a thing.
Personally, I believe that in public schools, there should be a complete separation of religion and education. What aggravates me is that when this is mentioned; Christians recoil, as though you are threatening their religious freedom. The fact that every child, regardless of their own religious beliefs is expected to conform and say a Christian prayer, that alone is infringement on religious freedom. Are our public schools Christian schools? Do children of all religious beliefs not attend them? Why must they forsake what they believe every single morning? Some argue that those who are not Christian do not need to say the prayer, but must at least be reverent. But how is this fair? Those children are given no time to say their own prayers publicly, and what I believe this says to a child is that Christianity is more legitimate than your religion. If you don’t understand what I mean by this, think about what would happen if the roles were reversed. How would you feel if you sent your Christian child to a public school, and then they returned and told you that they had been made to recite Islamic or Hindu prayers? Would you not be upset? So why is it acceptable that every child says a Christian prayer? It tells children that your religion is not as important, it is only acceptable to the public on special occasions, and that it is abnormal. Christianity is assumed to be the default, and I think this is honestly despicable.
Just last year, missionaries from the Faithful Word Baptist Church were able to gain access to students at public high schools in Guyana. That particular organisation has been deemed a “hate group” in the United States. For some background, the preacher of this group has prayed for former President of the United States, Barack Obama, to die and go to hell; has a documentary on the ‘truth’ of Hinduism; and has called for a war on the ‘gays’. How on earth is it acceptable to subject Hindu children to listen to a man who degrades and berates their religion in often ‘viral’ rants on YouTube? How did such a thing even happen? If a radical Imam wished to come speak about how he believes Christians are going to hell, would he be given equal access to the children?
Personally, I believe that we should just keep religion out of schools all together. There were talks of a universal prayer, but I don’t see the need for it. If you are truly religious, can you not pray at home? Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with members of a particular religion practising their religion. My issue derives from when other people are forced to as well. I am all for religious celebrations for Christmas, Easter, Phagwah, Diwali, or Eid in schools. But they should be optional. In conclusion, no religion can prove itself to be the true religion. We should not treat any as more legitimate than the other, and finally we should operate as though we are the secular State we claim to be. Keep the church out of the State and furthermore, out of the schools.
