The establishment clause and its purpose
This was a case which was heard in the Supreme Court of the United States of America. The case ruled that a policy that was allowing prayers initiated by high school students during football games known as the establishment clause was violated. The establishment clause which was violated is called the establishment clause of the religion clause. It stated that the Congress was not to make any law that respects the establishment of worship or leaving out the free exercise thereof. The purpose of this establishment was to assure citizens that the government was never going to interfere with both the private plus the public religious activities of any kind. The establishment is a significant clause in the life of Americans. The reason is that in its absence the government will have the authority to dictate to the citizens on the things that they must believe in and they are supposed to show that belief. It would not make sense if the government can have the power to make laws that would only favor them. The importance of this establishment is that it helps people to make choices on the matters that concerns religion, imagine a scenario where one prefers praying while standing another pray when standing and another scenario where somebody prefers going to church on Sunday while the other prefers worshiping on Saturday. If the government comes up with a universal law that guides this actions and activities, then some people will feel like they are mistreated.
Arguments from the two sides
Citizens should not be dictated on what to believe in especially when it comes to religion. This is the most importance of this establishment. The district could argue that the camp was not just a camp but a separations camp which was trying to unite the state and the religious functions. The district could argue that even if the all the children had agreed to conduct the prayers, it should never be allowed on the field they were using belonged to the school which is a government institution. They should finalize the statement by debating that giving the students to conduct the prayers would sound like connecting the prayers with the state which will, in turn, sound like the country is following the religion of the student.
In their argument against the student side, it could be argued that the ceremony violated the Establishment Clause in that the court held that they sometimes might not stop anyone from supporting or participating in religious activities. The District could argue that the principles that prohibit the court from interfering are only applicable the public, not a private student who were at the events which were sponsored by the school. The district could further argue that person who was conducting the prayers was using the school property to represent students’ body. On the student’s side, they could argue that the establishment clause permits citizens to conducts prayers in public. The students could use the accommodation camp to claim that the accommodation must be there for the big role that the religion plays in the entire citizen’s life despite what they believe in. They would argue that the clause protects the public in that if most of the students had supported the idea it was an open thing and they had the right to do so, they have a right to say their prayers just like any other citizens.