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From: pmd@cbsck.UUCP (Paul M. Dubuc)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: School Prayer
Message-ID: <1408@cbsck.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 23-Oct-85 11:30:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: cbsck.1408
Posted: Wed Oct 23 11:30:21 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 24-Oct-85 01:08:27 EDT
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Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories <SCCS>, Columbus
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Xref: watmath net.politics:11650 net.religion.christian:1494


>	Sheldon Vanauken (author of "A Severe Mercy" and "Under The Mercy")
>has come up with what Southern Partisan magazine calls "the best idea yet
>to restore prayer in the public schools."
>
>	Vanauken suggests that every public school in the country begin the
>day with the words "God save the United States and this honorable school", 
>just as the Supreme Court begins its day with the words "God save the United 
>States and this honorable court". 
>
>	If the practice were challenged, the court could do one of three things:
>
>(a) 	Rule that the practice is constitutional, since it is nearly identical
>to the practice of the Supreme Court.
>
>(b) 	Admit that it had been mistakenly indulging in an unconstitutional
>practice for years.
>
>(c)	Rule that substituting the word "school" for "court" transforms the
>invocation from a harmless piece of rhetoric into a prayer. (Which would take
>a lot of fancy judicial prestidigitation.)
>
>	Cloyd Goodrum III

(d)	Invoke the words of Chief Justice Warren Burger:  "We're the Supreme
Court.  We can do anything we want."  (Similar to option 'a' above.  If the
Court does it it must be constitutional.)	:-)
-- 

Paul Dubuc 	cbsck!pmd