Any religious ceremony in a public school is an exercise in orthodoxy—the orthodoxy of the Christian faith, which is correct for most of us, unacceptable to some. In an atmosphere of “voluntary” prayer, pupils coming from homes where other faiths prevail will feel an embarrassment by their non-participation; in the eyes of their schoolmates they will be “queer” or “different” or “irreligious.” Such a stigma for a child can be emotionally disturbing, and although we no longer hang and burn our infidels and our witches, a schoolchild who is left out in the cold during a prayer session suffers scars that are very real.
It should be the concern of our democracy that no child shall feel uncomfortable because of belief. This condition cannot be met if a schoolmaster is empowered to establish a standard of religious rectitude based on a particular form of worship.
— E. B. White, in a letter to Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R.-ME), 1966
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