CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnInner Israelrnby Jacob NeusnerrnState-Sponsored PrayerrnFor practicing Christians, Judaists, andrnMuslims, what is at stake in state-sponsoredrnprayer in public schools is whetherrnthe particularities that make us what wernare make a difference. Constitutional issuesrnaside, there are strong theologicalrnarguments against legislating prayer forrnyoung people. Specifically, nonsectarianrnprayer speaks for no one in particular andrnaddresses Whom it may concern. ButrnChristianity, Judaism, and Islam speakrnof one, unique God, to whom, as Christians,rnJudaists, or Muslims, we are calledrnby specific, and each of us thinks arnunique, revelation. While individuallyrnand privately we may pray as undifferentiatedrnhumanity, in public we pray as thernBody of Christ, the Church, or as HolyrnIsrael, God’s first love, or as the Nationrnof Islam. We cannot say other people’srnprayers and do not expect them to sayrnours, even while we affirm that all threernof the great monotheist religions addressrnone and the same Cod, the only God,rnwho made heaven and earth.rnState-sponsored, nonsectarian prayerrnin school violates those theologicalrnnorms. For just as there is no such thingrnas religion in general, but only specificrnand concrete religions, that is, communitiesrnof the faithful, so there can be nornsuch thing as prayer from no one in particularrnto no one in particular. That kindrnof prayer contradicts the convictions ofrnreligious communities that deem themselvesrndistinctive, holy, and called forthrnby God.rnTrue, when Jews and Christians gatherrnfor shared worship. Christians ordinarilyrnforgo the name of Jesus Christ, and Jewsrnwill compose for the occasion noncanonicalrnprayers or simply read a Psalm. Butrnboth participants understand that suchrnprayers are merely occasional gesturesrnof good will, that they hardly expressrnthe faith of the faithful standing beforernthe God whom they know and love.rnThroughout history, Jews have recognizedrnthat Christianity and Islam affirmrnthat same one Cod whom we knowrnthrough the Torah, but simply becauserneach of us concurs with the other’s conceptionrnof the One to whom we pray,rnthis does not at all yield the possibility ofrncommon prayer. We speak each in ourrnown, unique way; we honor the piety andrnprayer of others; but we do not participaternand cannot participate in thesernprayers, unless we apostatize.rn’This is not to say that I do not sharernthe concerns of those who advocaternstate-sponsored prayer in the publicrnschool. I share those aspirations, and Irnobject to the rigid and ideologically radicalrnsecularism that has led us to the presentrnimpasse. It is one thing to say thatrnthe state will not sponsor public prayerrnthrough the schools. It is another thingrnto say, as has been said, the state will forbidrnevidences of personal piety andrnprayer; will provide no access to religiousrnactivities on its property; will discriminaternagainst religious activities of a voluntaryrncharacter on the part of students;rnwill discourage Christian students fromrnexpressing their convictions concerningrnJesus Christ and Jewish students fromrnobserving the commandments of theirrnfaith, all in the name of the separation ofrnchurch and state. In one decision afterrnanother, the courts have systematicallyrndenied religious Americans the right tornexpress their religious convictions onrnpublic occasions (school graduations, forrnmstance). In the case of Islam and Judaism,rnthe University of Virginia has declaredrnthat it will not support Christianrnstudent activities, since Christianity is arnreligion, but it will support Judaic and Islamicrnstudent activities, since these arernethnic cultures. I am sure Muslims willrnshare the indignation of Jews in beingrndismissed as a nonreligion.rnIt is in the schools that the diversernfamilies of America—diverse in regionrnand race and religion—come together.rnIt is in schools where youngsters most oftenrndiscover not only who they are, butrnalso what they are not. When it comesrnto prayer, pretending that we all can andrnshould address God in one and the samernway teaches two bad lessons. First, itrndenigrates important particularities:rnour way to God, known in a particularrnchurch or synagogue or mosque, nowrngives way to another path to Cod, whichrnwe too must walk. Second, it fabricates arncommon faith where there is none, andrnso places our common Americanness intornconflict with our significant points ofrndifference.rnWhen I was in third grade, I discoveredrnthat not one of our FoundingrnFathers was Jewish. This harsh realityrndawned in early November, when we asrnyoung Connecticut Yankees were studyingrnThanksgiving. Specifically, we werernassigned the project of drawing picturesrnof the Puritan fathers going to synagoguern—well, that is how I understoodrnthe assignment. So 1 asked the teacher,rnMiss Melcher, “How do you spell synagogue?”rn”Why do you need to know?”rnshe asked. “To write under my picture.rnThe Puritan fathers going to synagoguernon Friday night.'” For, belonging to thernReform Temple in West Hartford, thatrnis what my family would do. “Theyrnweren’t Jews!” she said scornfully. “Theyrnwere Christians!” I was shocked and neverrnbelieved anything Miss Melcher toldrnus again, unless I could confirm it on myrnown.rnAs I grew older, I came to dread thernoccasion for international hypocrisy thatrnclassroom praying in the Protestant mannerrnand hymn singing precipitatedrn(“Faith of our fathers” did not refer tornthe Torah, I found out). And when thernCatholics stopped the Lord’s Prayer beforernthe words, “for thine is the kingdom,rnand the power, and the glory, forever andrnever. Amen,” but loudly, ostentatiouslyrnsaid, “Amen,” a half-dozen words eariier,rnI was sure that prayer must confuse Cod.rnAnd maybe even offend Her.rnJacob Neusner is Distinguished ResearchrnProfessor of Religious Studies at thernLMversity of South Florida.rn34/CHRONICLESrnrnrn