Pima, Arizona, where I grew up, finds itself in an uproar. Sean Rickert, superintendent of Pima High school, has declared that this year’s graduation ceremony will not include a prayer. This decision comes in spite of a unanimous vote by the senior class to keep the prayer as well as many parents’ disappointment. Superintendent Rickert states that his decision is motivated by a desire to protect student’s rights. Whether this is true or not, while a topic of debate, is irrelevant for my purpose.
Personally, I favor prayer. As a Christian, I believe that prayer is a wonderful tradition anywhere. However, as this controversy has unfolded I’ve had a hard time getting worked up about it. Whenever these school related controversies come up, I want to respond, “What did you expect?”
We’ve given the most inept and irreligious organization in the country–namely, the government–the power to organize our schools. How can it come as a surprise when government schools operate in ways that displease you? Why the shock when prayer is banned and scores are low? The only thing governments have ever been good at is killing people and tearing down civilization. Now they’re path of destruction has reached the graduation prayer. Surprise!
Forgive me if this story doesn’t move me, but Rickert’s decision should not be a shock to anyone. Parents who send their children to government schools (in my view) forfeit any right to complain when the school operates poorly and doesn’t reflect their personal religious and/or moral values. If you want to decide how your children are taught, teach them yourself, or, move them to a school which reflects your beliefs if one is available. Otherwise, acknowledge that your children’s school is operated with all the logic and finesse of the DMV or Obamacare.
Parents have their own reasons for keeping their children at these schools and that’s fine. The point is this: stop expecting government schools to be something they’re not. They aren’t efficient. They aren’t Christian based or even religious and, most important of all, they don’t have to do what parents ask.
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