Ajcongress Warns Bill of Rights Threatened by Proposed Amendment to Permit Prayers in Public Schools

The American Jewish Congress warned today that the “integrity of the Bill of Rights” was threatened by a proposed Constitutional amendment that would permit prayers in public schools. The amendment was released from the House Judiciary Committee by a discharge petition last week and will come before the House in November. In order to be adopted, an amendment to the Constitution must pass both houses of Congress and be ratified by three-quarters of the states. A resolution adopted by the AJCongress policy-making National Governing Council today warned that all Constitutional freedoms would be “endangered by any move to tamper with the Bill of Rights,”

The resolution noted that many Jewish and non-Jewish religious organizations have publicly opposed the amendment. “Once the principle is established that the Bill of Rights can be amended, the way will be open to other limitations of basic liberties such as freedom of speech, press and assembly,” the AJCongress resolution said. “Moreover, the effect of the amendment would be to trivialize religion and destroy the function of prayer as a sacred communication.”