House Resolution 36

A RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT TO REVISIT ITS RULINGS ON THE ISSUE OF PROHIBITIONS ON SCHOOL PRAYER SO AS TO REINSTITUTE THIS MOST SACRED PRIVILEGE TO THE MANY CHILDREN AND FAMILIES OF THIS NATION.

WHEREAS, as Christian citizens of the United States we are compelled to implore the high court to revisit its precedent and previous ruling on the school prayer and to restore prayer back in public schools throughout this great nation that was founded on our Christian principles, as advocated in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the freedom thereof"; and

WHEREAS, as Christians we have stood by and allowed our government to take prayer from our schools, removing the sovereign protection from our greatest assets, our children, who can not read the Bible in school without persecution; and

WHEREAS, because of standing judicial precedent children are afraid to share the faith that this country was founded on, as they become more and more isolated and dissociated with religion because their friends are not allowed to talk to them about it; and

WHEREAS, does this country not understand the implications that without God we are destined for a path of destruction; by taking God out of our schools we are also taking this nation out from under God's powerful protection; and

WHEREAS, we as Christians fell asleep and let the enemy try to destroy generations of our youth, but we are standing up for our children and we are taking back a generation that has been nearly destroyed with the separation of state and religion; and

WHEREAS, since prayer was eliminated from public schools, the quality of education has shown a steady statistical decline; and WHEREAS, humanism assumes that the supernatural does not exist and that reality must be discovered purely from man's reasoning, giving rise to the unfortunate detriment of our public school system, which has been operating on this foundation since prayer was removed in 1962; and

WHEREAS, returning prayer to school would be an affront to this philosophy because prayer acknowledges the existence of someone greater than man; and

WHEREAS, reconstituting the allowance of prayer in school sets an important standard that tells students that they are more than just a collection of chemicals and energy that happen to be occupying space and time; and

WHEREAS, prayer is an action which proclaims that life is more than saving the environment or accumulating wealth; the fervency with which school prayer is opposed is because it represents the antithesis to the beliefs of those who set policy for much of our public school system; and

WHEREAS, most Americans are in favor of prayer in public school because they realize that there is much to be gained from the open acknowledgement of God's existence; morals can only be built on the basis that a moral source-god exists, and once acknowledgement of God's existence is removed, there is no absolute basis for morals; and

WHEREAS, since prayer was removed from public school classrooms in 1962, society has experienced a six-fold increase in violent crime, the rate of divorce has tripled, births to single mothers have increased five-fold, the teenage suicide rate has tripled, and SAT scores have plummeted 80 points or approximately ten percent; and

WHEREAS, our nation was founded on the freedom to publicly acknowledge God's existence, and allowing prayer in schools will improve, not detract from a student's understanding of the universe; and

WHEREAS, it is incumbent upon this body, as the House of Representatives to fight for and uphold the cherished principles of those who have elected us to serve to the utmost of our ability to preserve and protect those values we hold dearest:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby urge the United States Supreme Court to revisit its rulings on the issue of prohibitions on school prayer so as to reinstitute this most sacred privilege to the many children and families of this nation.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the justices of the United States Supreme Court and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.