Thoughtless Prayer

ONE BOSTON high school principal said last week of the state's new school prayer law, "No one has given it much thought." That's self-evident about everything concerning the new law, from its obvious affront to constitutional principles to the ill-defined details of its implementation.

The law requires schoolteachers to allow one minute or more for student volunteers to lead their classes in prayer; students who don't want to participate are graciously allowed to leave the room. Supporters of the law believe it will halt the creep of immorality into American life, and restore traditional American values.

In practice, the law would simply create chaos in the classroom, confusing younger children and making cynics of older ones. What would happen if most of the class decided to leave the room during a prayer? If several children want to lead prayers in different religions, how does the teacher decide which should lead the class? If several students lead prayers, will their poers tramp in and out of the room as each faith gets its time in class? Recognizing these and similar problems, the Cambridge school superintendent has rightly decided to delay implementing the law until the courts pass on its constitutionality.

That decision ought to come soon, and it ought to show the law's supporters what those who have given it some thought recognized all along: that the law unquestionably violates the American principle of separation of church and state. The practice of religion has no place in publicly funded schools in the United States. Those who want to introduce it grossly violate the very American values they claim to defend.