beekay

This pile of manure is running today in my local newspaper:

Lasting effects of U.S. Supreme Court decisions

To the editor:
In 1962, the U,S, Supreme Court prohibited the saying of this non-denominational prayer in public schools "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon thee, and we beg thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country." In 1963, the highest U.S. court banned Bible teachings in public schools. In 1980, the court ordered public schools to remove the Ten Commandments from student view.

What are the results to our country since 1962? Sadly, our country has experienced and is experiencing the following. Based upon a source of College Entrance Board, SAT scores are down by 10 percent on combined math and verbal scores. Teen suicides among 15-19 year olds are up by 450 percent reported by the National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Maltreatment reports that child abuse cases are up by 2,300 percent. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that the incidents of illegal-drug use among youth is up by 6,000 percent. The U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States reports that criminal arrests of teens 14-17 years old are up by 150 percent. The same source reports that births to unmarried girls 15-19 years old are up by 500 percent. The Statistical Abstract from the census reports that divorces and children under 18 involved in divorces per year in the U.S. are up by 350 percent.

It seems anti-God forces and extreme left-wing activists have disallowed what the U.S. Supreme Court of 1892 declared. "Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon the teachings of the Redeemer of Mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."

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Those statistics are a bit suspicious to me. But the real shame is the pure idiocy of thinking that removing prayer from schools led to the decline of civilization.

I plan on writing a response. Any help or insight would be sincerely appreciated.

Jewel

First off he doesn't site any sources for his statistics. Second, his entire argument is a non sequitur.

He's saying that because the courts forced government run public schools to follow constitutional law that grades have dropped and crime has skyrocketed. That's BS. He has not shown this to be true. Just because something happens after an event, it does not mean the event is the cause of the thing in question.

And, I do not have the time to research it right now, but I think the quote hi gives at the end is an opinion of a judge and not a law binding thing. I'd also be curious to check out these statistics he sites, because it seems to me crime has actually dropped.

Perhaps this evening I will have the time to do a little hunting.

beekay

Ah, yes, I thought I recognized that Supreme Court quote:

http://www.au.org/myths.htm

Scroll down a little bit to see it.

Stephen Maturin

That bogus Supreme Court quote is still floating around?! Well, if nothing else you can use the last paragraph of that letter to establish that the author is a mindless dumbass who's simply parroting the lies of others.

The old Supreme Court case he's talking about is Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 266 (1892). The quote doesn't appear in the decision at all. Even David Barton, the renowned Liar for Jesus(TM) who's primarily responsible for disseminating the quote, has been forced to admit that the it's false. You can find more on the Holy Trinity case and what it was actually about here and here.

dangin

Yes removing prayer from school caused all those ills.

Every american on death row has eaten french fries. French fries cause crime.

Every murderer breathes oxygen, oxygen breathing leads to murder.

Every illegitimate child came from a woman who drinks water. Drinking water makes women have illegitimate children.

Most heroin users smoked pot first. Pot is a gateway to heoin. (although only three percent of pot users try smack)

Statistics can be fun.

Stephen Maturin

Damn straight! As long as we're going all post hoc ergo propter hoc, let's talk about the hideous evils that have befallen our great nation since "under God" became part of the Pledge of Allegiance.

dangin

actually that's a great one, link all the same crap in the fundy letter to the editor to McCarthy and the attacks on separation in the 50s.

Grad Student Humanist

It's great how this fool tries to tie academic achievement to public prayer.

First of all, how does he explain the Asian students who consistently outperform American students, especially in math and science? They're not praying in the schools in China or Japan (and even if they are, they're not praying to the Xtian God). Or the European students who live in a much, much more secular society yet also outperform American students? Obviously academic performance has nothing to do with public prayer to the Xtian God.

And the prayer he offers as an example-- *barf* I would fight tooth and nail any effort to indoctrinate school children with the belief that they (and everyone else) are dependant on "Almighty God."

nogods4me

Teen births are down since 1962 so are deaths from polio, tuberculosis, cholera, the flu, etc. average income is up, life spans are longer, we have color TV, computers, video games, 200 channels on cable, have put men on the moon, and have SpongeBob SquarePants. All obviously positive results of the court decisions

gravitybow

Sence 1962 all our good Jim Crow laws has gone down the tolet and THEM people got there socalled civil rights. Hell just last month the Spreme Court says you caint burn no cross wherever you want no more. hows Gods chosen people gonna provide warmth an light at night in certain neborhoods? Its enough to make a growed up white chrictian cry.