Prayer in School (christianity flaws #5)

What is the point of saying prayer in public schools any way? or any school for that matter, or in public at all?

Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But let's just forget that Jaaaayzuz basically taught that if you pray in public that you are actually bragging that you are a believer because you are merely praying for the sake of being *Seen* giving your praise, shall we?

Do people attend prayer services so as to be seen so as to fit in with the flock and not have to be asked "why weren't you in church on Sunday?" for the rest of the week?

And what does repeating some prayer teach a kid anyway? Does it teach the kids anything?

What exactly does reading the bible in some daily prayer service actually achieve anyway? What bits of the bible are they wanting to 'teach' anyway? all the hateful stuff of the Old Testament ?? Oh that will really help the kids learn compassion, not!

Most of the "prayers" that I have seen from people online, have merely been thanks to Jesus, they give praise, as if to say

"LOOKATME!!! I believe in Jesus!""

What does saying praise to such and such do for kids?

If that's what these prayers in school are supposed to be about then not only can you kick that person in the arse on the way out of the door, you can tell them as well that giving praise to something that they clearly know nothing about is idolatry! *sigh*

99.9% of religion is idolatry, well, that's what it seems like. but then again, anyone getting their religion right wouldn't be making a big deal out of it. So it is probably fair to say that any expression of a person's religion is idolatry or very close to it. (Religion being the three biggest pains in the arse, Jewism, Christism, and Muhammadism)

Kids should be taught that praise is *earned*. Maybe kids would have a few less heroes that are sluts and rapists and molesters and drug addicts and bad singers if they didn't so readily give praise where it's not deserved and praising Jesus repeatedly serves no purpose but to brain wash a person into doing just that....

when you praise something so easily, you set yourself up for disappointment.

If a religion/god should be praised, then the kid should learn what the religion is about and praise should be given based upon its merits in the *good* qualities that that religion *teaches*.

Saying prayer is pointless if you don't know the religion you follow, and by the sheer volume of people who just praise Jesus all the time, it's clear that many people have missed the point and probably only identify as being christian in order to get eternal life.

You're supposed to get good values and lessons out of your religion, not little mantras to repeat to yourself to remind you that when you die that it's not all over and that you didn't waste your time on earth being a nobody, and religion is notorious for doing just that, making people feel like they are no good because every one is a sinner or some rubbish.

However, if all you do is say these little prayers of thanks to make you feel like a "good" person, then you will end up lying to yourself that you are a good person, because whether you actually are a good person or not is beside the point as you didn't become a good person by saying prayers did you? you became a good person by the good things you actually do.

I think that was the point of Matthew 6:5-8 and saying prayers in public is just a social thing to blend in under the premise of the whole "when we die we'll all get to hang out together" and if you get that fear of god (death, infinity, the super-unknown) into the child, it's easier to make those irrational fears hit critical mass as a child has far less control over their emotions than an adult.

Just saying praise also feeds the ego of the child, "I believe in Jesus - YOU DON'T - therefore *I* am morally superior to you!" ... I've seen people claim *exactly* this in as many words and yet these same people are likely to not be able to tell you what the highest two commandments in christianity are ....

The bottom line is that the people who want prayer in school are showing their lack of faith, people aren't going to church any more, so they need to get in and get at the kids to brain wash them at the only other place they can allegedly get at them: in the schools.