Government indoctrination centers ordered to stop prayer

A federal judge has ordered the Santa Rosa County School District to stop promoting religion and prayer in the classroom and at school events.

U.S. District Court Judge Casey Rodgers ruled Friday after school officials admitted allegations in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

This clash between students/parents and the state epitomizes the inherent unfairness and immorality of government-sponsored schooling.

Contrary to popular opinion, these types of cases have nothing to do with so-called "free speech" rights or "separation of church and state." They have to do with coercion.

Taxpayers who happen to endorse prayer in public schools will tell you that they should be free to express their religious views in schools they pay for; those who oppose prayer in public schools will tell you that their tax dollars afford them the right to be free of such practices.

Both arguments are valid, but only up until the point where the rights of one group encroach upon the rights of another. It is immoral to forcibly relieve someone of her property (i.e., steal her money and call it taxation) and then force her to conform to rules without her consent -- whatever those rules happen to be.

Therefore, the only moral course is to abolish government schools -- to separate school and state. Parents who wish to send their kids to schools that offer prayer will easily find private ones offering such services. Likewise parents who have no need for this. And so on and so forth, as privatizing education would allow parents of all walks to customize their children's schooling when schools offering a variety of specialized services began to sprout up.

Of course, even if a majority of Americans favored the abolition of public schools, politicians and bureaucrats would fight tooth and nail to prevent this. For they understand that government schooling has absolutely nothing to do with providing "free" education (much less quality education) to children and everything to do with taking everyone's money and using it to force as many kids as possible to be indoctrinated with statist ideology.