AUSTIN (AP)Gov. Rick Perry on Monday defended his decision to pray with students in East Texas, saying he disagrees with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning organized prayer at public school events.
The patriotic program last week at a middle school in Palestine, which included a prayer, was appropriate, Perry said. I would challenge anyone to come to that event and see the patriotism, the faith being displayed, the goodwill towards America, and criticize it. I think our country deserves that type of support in this very crises moment in our history, he said.
The governor made the remarks to reporters after a news conference on the Nov. 6 constitutional amendments election.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1963 banned organized prayer in public schools. Last year, the court ruled against the Santa Fe Independent School District in southeast Texas, deciding that organized prayers before high school football games were unconstitutional.
I fundamentally disagree with that, Perry said, referring to the Santa Fe school ruling.
Students are allowed by law to pray individually in school, but organized prayer was the issue before the Supreme Court. Perry, a Republican, has said he wants to make prayer in school a campaign issue in the 2002 election.
But Tony Sanchez and John WorldPeace, his Democratic opponents for governor, also say they support some form of school prayer.
Sanchez believes “there should be a place for spiritual expression in our public life and that children should not have to leave their family faith at the door of the schoolhouse,said his spokeswoman, Michelle Kucera.
However, organized school prayer can pose problems because of the nation's diversity of religious beliefs, Kucera said. There is some danger in children feeling uncomfortable if it's not their religion of choice,she said. Kucera declined to say whether the Palestine event was appropriate.
The people who attended the event, they would know how they felt about it, she said.
The Texas Education Agency has said the Palestine middle school event could pose a legal problem because students were required to attend the assembly.
Before the program in Palestine, Perry said, he didn't think about whether what he was about to do was legal or not.
It may be time for the rules on the separation of church and state to be clarified, he said. Perry noted that Congress and the Texas Legislature start sessions with prayer, and those are government entities.
Therefore, he said, it is difficult to comprehend why organized prayer is forbidden in public school.
I don't understand the logic of that,he said.