This time history was rewritten to suggest that but for the perseverence of one Atheist, one Madalyn Murray O'Hair, children are not allowed to pray in the public schools of America. I am here as a poor man's Noam Chomsky, to set the historic record straight and retrieve it from the Orwellian memory-hole to which the American media have damned it. There is one fact which we must familarize ourselves with from the outset. There has been no Supreme Court decision banning prayer in the public schools. There has been a decision banning government-sponsored prayer.
Children are free to pray silently as many have always done.
Another fact which we ought to assimilate is that Madalyn Murray O'Hair had nothing to do whatsoever with the Supreme Court decision that banned government-sponsored prayer from the public schools. Engel, a Jewish resident of New York, objected to the prayer composed by the New York State Board of Regents and recommended for adoption by the public school districts of New York. It would appear that respect for authority, obedience and the promotion of religious faith among children attending the public schools were top priority items for the political hacks who concocted the New York Regents' prayer. The Regent priorities would have been more suitable for the Italy of Benito Mussolini or the Germany of Adolf Hitler. The Regents' prayer caused a great deal of controversy in New York City.