Renewed debates are happening across the United States about the place of religion – especially Christianity – in public schools. An evenly divided Supreme Court recently upheld a ban on what would have been the nation’s first religious public charter school, in Oklahoma. Texas lawmakers are considering requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, while a federal appeals court struck down a similar law in Louisiana earlier this month. And legal battles persist over prayer at school sporting events and making time for prayer during the school day.
Today, Americans are deeply split on the question of whether to allow Christian prayer in school:
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Just over half of U.S. adults (52%) say they favor allowing public school teachers to lead their classes in prayers that refer to Jesus: 27% say they strongly favor this, and 26% say they favor it.
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46% of adults oppose allowing public school teachers to lead their classes in prayers that refer to Jesus: 22% say they strongly oppose this, and 24% say they oppose it. ….
