Ballot Initiative would Create Right to Pray

A ballot initiative would clarify religious freedoms to include the right of people to pray in a public setting. The measure is currently in the Missouri Senate; if passed, the measure would go before the voters in the 2012 General Election or at a special election called for that purpose by the governor. The initiative would ensure that "any person shall have the right to pray individually or corporately in a private or public setting" provided that it is not disruptive. The bill would protect students against discrimination based on the religious content of their work. It would require all schools, including Worth County and Northeast Nodaway to display the text of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution in a prominent place.

Conservative Christian groups have long attacked public schools for what they see as schools creating a hostile environment for public prayer and for excluding creationism, or the belief that God created the world in seven literal days and that the world is less than 10,000 years old, from public schools. They argue that there is scientific basis for the creation of the earth based on the work of groups like the Institute for Creation Research. Other groups argue that this bill is simply a backdoor attempt to force schools to discuss creationism and amounts to the establishment of religion in schools.