Thanks to Steve Chapman for his column “The gospel according to. . .” (Commentary, July 2). The case of Mildred Rosario is about the best example possible of why public prayer does not belong in the public schools.
Ms. Rosario, a teacher in the Bronx, chose an emotionally charged moment, brought about by the death of a student, to begin proselytizing among the students in her classroom. When called to task by the school board, she not only admitted the act, but she stated that she would continue to proselytize and indeed began to preach to the board.
As Steve Chapman says, the board had no choice but to fire this teacher who refused to obey the law of our land.
It is distressing in the extreme that congressional luminaries like Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, who must surely have an understanding of the law, feel that they must pander to the religious right by decrying this teacher’s dismissal. Do they really want to give every teacher the right to bombard the children of this country with whatever religious notions that teacher may subscribe to?
Gary Bauer, head of the Family Research Council, who is rumored to be thinking of trying for the Republican presidential nomination, says that we need countless teachers like this. Spokespeople for the religious right, who are the main ones lobbing for prayer in the schools, like to say that all they want is to be allowed to have a simple prayer in the classroom.
But Gary Bauer’s remark gives the lie to that claim. What he wants is to be able to actively proselytize in the classroom.
Please, we do not need or want this man or his like in the classrooms. We are a country of many religious beliefs.
Let us bring our religion to school in our hearts and in our lives, but let’s not allow one person or group to force their religion on others in the public schools.
