When will this silly debate over prayer in schools ever end? I notice there are few students involved in all this. They're too busy trying to make heads or tails out of their algebra lessons. 

No, it's the adults who are waging this war. Why do adults always get in the middle of something the kids probably could solve a lot more peacefully if left on their own? 

The debate over prayer in the schools is dumb. The Constitution states quite clearly there is to be separation of church and state in this country. 

School is state. Prayer is church. End of argument, as far as I'm concerned. 

Besides if you mix the two, you're messing with the Constitution, and you don't mess with Charles Bronson, Mother Nature or the Constitution. Sooner or later, they will all get revenge. 

Pray before class 

OK, so there are parents out there reading this and they are devout people and they want their children to be devout and they are asking, if my kid isn't allowed to pray at school will he or she grow up to be an atheist? 

Of course not. Let's say we finally end this fracas and we remove all semblance of religion from our public schools. 

No problem. Tell your kid to pray before he or she goes to school. 

"Dear God, please get me through one more day of algebra." 

Or tell your child to pray when he or she gets home from school. 

"Dear God, thank you for letting me get through one more day of algebra." 

Nobody, not even the Supreme Court can stop your child from praying in school, for that matter. All your child has to do is tune out for a couple of seconds and say a little private silent prayer. 

"Dear God, please don't let the algebra teacher call on me." 

I've always thought God probably listens more closely to silent, individual p rayers anyway. 

Teachers suffer 

Anybody can stand up with a group of others and recite a prayer. We used to do that when I was in school. Each morning, we would all stand and bow our heads and close our eyes and recite the Lord's Prayer. 

One morning, I noticed Alvin Bates, the class jerk, didn't have his eyes closed during the prayer, and when it was over, I said, "Teacher, Alvin Bates didn't have his eyes closed during the prayer." 

"If you had your eyes closed," said the teacher, "how do you know Alvin had his open?" 

One thing I never liked about teachers is they browbeat you with logic. 

But speaking of teachers, the only people who suffered any real injury from the Supreme Court ruling may have been them. 

For the heck of it, I talked to an Alabama teacher and asked what she thought of losing the moment of silence in her classroom. 

"I'll miss it," she said. "It was the only relief I got from those kids all day." 

Amen.