Teachers Who Pray

Under God and under the law.
Although it’s clear that Rhames and other schoolteachers are on the front lines and some would concede that prayer is definitely needed, is it really legal to pray on school property?

Rhames is unambiguous. “In order to have a national nonprofit I cannot advocate breaking the law. I wouldn’t want teachers jeopardizing their jobs. Some people do break the law all the time (by, for example, praying over children), but I think that’s an unwise strategy for doing God’s work. And there are more things that we can do than that we cannot do.”

Rhames says a lot of people don’t know what’s allowed under the law. To educate teachers and to clarify any misconceptions around the separation between church and state, Teachers Who Pray offers a legal tutorial on prayer in schools at each of its conferences. She says the organization stands on legal ground as well as biblical ground.

Rhames stated the following:

• Teachers cannot pray in front of students.
• Teachers cannot encourage or discourage student prayer. (Teachers cannot legally make any kind of value judgment on prayer, but they can legally give students space where they can pray.)

“Our job is to teach,” Rhames says, “not to try to persuade students to believe one faith or another. It would be irresponsible of me to tell people to break the law. I always tell teachers not to do anything that puts them at risk. If people say I said it, it brings a reproach on Teachers Who Pray.”

On the other hand, Rhames says that if teachers would just do what they can do, they would leave an impact.

“Teachers can pray before or after school–it is considered protected free speech. If I can gossip about, say, Beyoncé, I can pray. But if someone tells me they don’t want to hear about Beyoncé, then I don’t tell them, because that could be considered harassment.” Rhames also says that teachers can share their faith with parents if the parents are interested.

“We have the power and influence to edify teachers to be their best. They have the opportunity to change lives. Impacting the head of the classroom is impacting the class. Happy, motivated, inspired teachers in the classroom is the best way to transform a school.”

For more about Teachers Who Pray, go to www.teacherswhopray.org/. The organization’s tagline? “Taking Education Advocacy to the Highest Level.”