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Article: School prayer by any other name?(Up Front: MOMENTS OF REFLECTION WHOSE RIGHTS AT THE OFFICE? CARTOON CLASSIC HUMANIST)(Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act)
- Article from:
- The Humanist
- Article date:
- January 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 American Humanist Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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OH, WHAT A DIFFERENCE a moment can make. Or not.
This past October Illinois became the latest of several states to impose a moment of silence in public schools. The new law, known as the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act, mandated a previously optional period of silence at the beginning of each school day. Hailed as a badly needed respite for bombarded kids by supporters but decried as a nefarious way to inject religion in public schools by opponents, Illinois' moment of silence has opened a huge can of church-state separation worms.
The moment of silence, as defined by the Illinois law, allows "an opportunity for silent prayer or for silent ...