Voluntary Prayer in Public Schools: 3/15/1984

On MARCH 15, 1984, the Senate voted down voluntary prayer in public schools. President Reagan said: "I am deeply disappointed that, although a majority of the Senate voted for it, the school prayer amendment fell short."

On September 25, 1982, Ronald Reagan said: "Unfortunately, in the last two decades we've experienced an onslaught of such twisted logic that if Alice were visiting America, she might think she'd never left Wonderland. We're told that it somehow violates the rights of others to permit students in school who desire to pray to do so. Clearly this infringes on the freedom of those who choose to pray, the freedom taken for granted since the time of our Founding Fathers."

Reagan continued: "To prevent those who believe in God from expressing their faith is an outrage...The relentless drive to eliminate God from our schools...should be stopped."

Ronald Reagan said February 25, 1984: "Sometimes I can't help but feel the First Amendment is being turned on its head."

Reagan told the Alabama Legislature, March 15, 1982: "The First Amendment was not written to protect the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny."

American Minute with Bill Federer