The Fourth R

by Joan DelFattore

A timely and engaging story of two centuries of controversy—and sometimes violence—over prayer in America’s public schools

Contrary to popular belief, God has certainly not been kicked out of the public schools. What is banned is state-sponsored prayer, not the religious speech of the students themselves. But as news stories, political speeches, and lawsuits amply demonstrate, this approach has by no means resolved the long-standing debate over religion in public education. While some people challenge the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, with its reference to “one nation under God,” others view school shootings and the terrorism of 9/11 as evidence that organized prayer must once again become part of the official school day.

In this lively book, Joan DelFattore traces the evolution of school-prayer battles from the early 1800s, when children were beaten or expelled for refusing to read the King James Bible, to current disputes over prayer at public-school football games. Underlying these events, she shows, is a struggle to balance two of the most fundamental tenets of majority rule and individual rights. Her highly readable book explores the enduring tension between people of good will who wish the schools to promote majoritarian beliefs, and equally well-meaning (and often religious) people who deplore any governmental influence in religious matters.

Genres: Religion, History, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published February 9, 2004

Reviews

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dense, fact-packed look at the subject. The book starts in the 19th century with Catholic protests against kids being forced to listen to Protestant prayers and Bible reading, then moves on through countless cases over school prayers, graduation ceremonies and football games and various congressional and state attempts to "put God back into schools" (as DelFattore makes clear, God's never been kicked out). A recurring complication from the first has been that people nominally on the same side have different goals: one Catholic activist wants to get rid of Protestant prayer while another hopes to keep prayer but get funding for parochial schools; some pro-prayer activists want to ensure kids freedom to pray while others insist there's nothing coercive about requiring kids to sit through prayers they don't believe in. Slow going because it's so informative.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friends, this book COULD have been super dry and quite frankly, quite boring. But the author clearly shares my adoration for the quirky characters that populate this planet, and so instead it was quite funny. (I mean, I'm not saying it was a laugh a minute, but it was amusing.)

All I want to say is my favorite, quirkiest state in the Union is Mississippi, where people GENUINELY say things like, "But if I add [actual] history to my course [on Middle East Biblical HISTORY], I won't be able to get through Nehemiah." Public school problems, y'all.