The Alabama Republican Party Executive Committee will meet on Saturday for its annual Summer Meeting. Several members of the Committee are planning to bring a resolution from the floor urging the Alabama State Legislature to pass legislation reintroducing prayer to the Alabama public schools.
The resolution is sponsored by former State Rep. Perry O. Hooper, Jr., Montgomery County; Suzelle Josey, Autauga County; Angela Sheppard, Lee County; Denise Bates, Tallapoosa County; and Rev. John Killian, Fayette County.
School prayer was common and ordinary from America’s colonial days all the way until the 1960s when the Supreme Court introduced the separation between Church and state doctrine.
The sponsors argue that the landmark United States Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton School ruling in favor of a high school football coach who was wrongfully fired for voluntarily praying on the football field did not violate the Establishment Clause of the Constitution has set a precedent that the current makeup of the Supreme Court could allow a school prayer law to stand.
The resolution states that “beginning when prayer was removed from our schools, there has been a decline in student behavior and achievement; and WHEREAS, Prayer sets a standard of personal conduct for students to follow and boost the morality seen in the classroom; and WHEREAS, Having prayer in schools promotes tolerance and understanding; and WHEREAS, Prayer and devotions has a long history in Alabama Schools; and WHEREAS, Our Constitution is based upon Judeo Christian Principles; and WHEREAS, Prayer in Alabama Schools is not a partisan issue but an issue that all Alabama Legislators can support.”
The resolution urges the state “legislature to do everything in its power to restore voluntary prayer in all feasible areas of school life.”
While the Republican Executive Committee can urge legislators to act, the legislators are under no binding obligation to carry out the will of the 440-member state executive committee.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandon.moseley@1819News.com.
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