A number of fundamentalist critics maintain that the rights of Christians are being denied by the direct intervention of the state in the matter of prayer in public schools. In fact, a reasonable argument can be made that since the early 1960s, state and federal governmental agencies have intervened in this area, in ways that have significantly lessened the breadth and freedom afforded to fundamentalist groups. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of the restrictions that have been placed on prayer and Bible reading in the public schools.
The appropriateness of prayer in the public schools has become one of the most emotional issues raised by fundamentalists and Christian conservatives alike. They fervently believe that returning prayer to the public schools is absolutely necessary if American society is to overcome its problems. Provenzo cites a quotation by Ed McAteer, president of the Religious Roundtable, to note the urgency of conservative and fundamentalist reform: "if we are to stem the tide of lawlessness, drug addiction, and sexual perversion which adversely affect academic performance, we must start putting God back into our school systems."
As a result of their belief in a single and absolute Christian truth, the ultra-fundamentalists (those radical reformers such as Jerry Falwell--who once launched the moral majority campaign) do not feel that the expression of their beliefs in the form of school prayer, Bible reading, or the implementation of a Creationist curriculum, are inconsistent with the values of a democracy. If there is one truth, that truth should be universally valid in all political environments.
For the purpose of clarification, it will prove useful to make some labelling distinctions at this point. Evangelicals are American Protestants who stress conservative doctrines and morality, together with a traditional or literal interpretation of the Bible. An individual commitment to Jes...