When a Personal God Becomes Public Policy

In “Objections to Prayer” (letter, Dec. 7), Carleton H. Ralston wonders what harm it can do to have prayer in school. I have one incident that illustrates one danger.

I grew up in a small town in Utah that had a 98% Mormon population. When I was in fifth grade a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses moved into town, and one of their daughters was in my class at school. We started every day with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, neither of which her religion allowed her to participate in. This didn’t sit well with some of the children in the class, who were themselves “good Mormons.” With what we thought was our duty--to convert her to our church--she was harassed, teased, denounced and threatened. I am still ashamed of what part I played in this because I wanted to fit in with my fellow students. She eventually moved to a different town to escape the harassment.

If people want to pray in school no one is stopping them, unless they want to make everyone else pray along with them.

Daniel McVey

Los Angeles