Texas turnout falls short in protest of Supreme Court school-prayer ban

In this story: Texas high school focus of prayer debate Previous protests drew more people Most incidents 'informal protests,' says group RELATED STORIES, SITES

SANTA FE, Texas -- At the high school football stadium where the issue of school prayer touched off a constitutional debate, a protest planned Friday to defy the U.S. Supreme Court fell flat.

Across Texas, it was much the same story.

Pro-prayer groups failed to muster significant protests against the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ban on school-sanctioned pre-game prayers.

Texas high school focus of prayer debate

Santa Fe High School, with its tradition of pre-game prayer, had been the focus of the debate -- one the Supreme Court ruled upon last June.

In its 6-3 decision, the court ruled against the defendant, Santa Fe Independent School District, saying its approval of student-led prayers over the loudspeakers was unconstitutional. The prayers violated the separation of church and state, ruled the court.

That decision, however, angered a group from Temple, Texas, called No Pray No Play. In defiance of the court's decision, the group tried to rally Texas Christians on Friday to pray as soon as national anthems ended at football games across the state.

Members boldly predicted that 10,000 protesting Christians would converge at Santa Fe High School's home opener.

But when the national anthem ended, only about 200 in the crowd of 4,500 recited "The Lord's Prayer." Immediately, their prayers were drowned out by the loudspeakers as the announcer introduced the visiting team.

"It was obvious that the announcer jumped right in after the anthem, and then it was too late to do anything," said Becky Frye, mother of a Santa Fe player.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Church and state

"I have a right to stand and pray and ask for God's blessings," said No Pray No Play spokesman the Rev. David Newsome, during an interview with CNN.

Jackie Nelson, a Santa Fe resident, said from the stands that the Supreme Court had no right to prohibit the use of loudspeakers for prayers.

"The loudspeakers are paid for with our tax dollars, so we should be able to use them as we wish," she said. "If other groups want to pray that way, let them put their Buddhas or their wooden statues up there and pray to their dead gods."

But Dena Marks of the Anti-Defamation League, who was monitoring the protests, told CNN the public prayers by No Pray No Play members and others were insensitive. The Supreme Court's decision, she explained, was "designed to protect students of minority faiths "from being put into a coercive situation -- where they are listening to a prayer they don't want to listen to."

Previous protests drew more people

Friday's recitations paled in comparison with other pre-game expressions of faith at football games around the country since the high court's ruling.

High school football began last week in some states, and some prayer demonstrations already have occurred, most notably in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, when 4,500 fans stood to pray before a game. In Asheville, North Carolina, 25,000 people gathered at a football stadium for a rally sponsored by a group urging the recitation of "The Lord's Prayer" at football games.

In Skiatook, Oklahoma, about 50 people bowed their heads in a pre-game invocation organized by a group of adults Friday.

"We have a 50-year tradition here that will be done away with so easily because a few people don't think it's constitutional for children to pray at school," said Kevin Jordan, one of the organizers. "We just want to have the freedom to pray as we want, without imposing our beliefs on others."

Most incidents 'informal protests,' says group

Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, described most of the recent protests as informal demonstrations in which at least one person simply prayed out loud. Boston said his group, which tracks church and state issues, received 12 reports of people praying aloud at rallies or football games, apparently protests over the Supreme Court's decision.

CNN's Charles Zewe and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Group reports prayer protests as school year begins
September 1, 2000
10,000 may say prayer in Santa Fe
August 30, 2000
Supreme Court says student-led prayer at high school football games violates First Amendment
June 19, 2000
Supreme Court to tackle major school prayer case
March 28, 2000
Virginia law sparks school prayer debate
June 20, 2000

School Prayer: A Community at War
ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union
The Federal Judiciary Homepage
The decision in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe
No PRAY. No PLAY.

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