The Oklahoma House sent House Bill 3240 to the Senate with a more than two-thirds vote. This bill would give public school students a designated time for voluntary prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious texts. The bill ensures parents must consent to their child’s participation, and that religious observances cannot be conducted in the presence or hearing of non-consenting students.
This thoughtfully designed, constitutional bill is sorely needed.
Historically, public school religious practices coexisted in harmony with the First Amendment. Public school prayer, Bible reading and religious observances were commonplace. Language and even math textbooks included religious themes.
All that changed when, more than 170 years after the founding, the United States Supreme Court decided two cases widely interpreted as banning religion in public school: Engel v. Vitale (1962)and School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp (1963), collectively known as the “School Prayer Cases.”
Engel was so unpopular that it was condemned by 49 of 50 state governors. Yet the threat of lawsuits eventually purged religion from American public schools.
A sharp decline in religious affiliation soon followed. In 1965, before the School Prayer Cases, Gallup found 70% of Americans ranked religion as “very important.” By 1978, that number had plummeted to 52% — not much different than the 47% ranking by 2025. Consequently, religion has become unimportant to many young people. Only 33% of 18-29 year-olds ranked religion as “very important.” No wonder, given that religion has been banished from public schools, where they spend most of their waking hours.
These declines eventually showed up even in conservative Oklahoma. In a 2007 Pew Research study, 88% of Oklahoma adults identified with a religion. Eighty-five percent of Oklahoma adults in 2007 identified as Christians. Muslims, Hindus and other religions each ranked at or below 1%, but 12% identified as “religiously unaffiliated.”
Over the next 15 years, these trends greatly accelerated. By 2023-2024, Christian identification in Oklahoma had dropped to 70%, while Muslims and other religions each still ranked at or below 1%. However, the “religiously unaffiliated” group had more than doubled to 26%. The takeaway? Oklahoma is not losing Christian believers to Islam or any other faith, but to the group that believes in nothing.
Why should Oklahomans care if the rising generation of schoolchildren is less religious?
If you’re a believer, you understand that faith is important for its own sake. Religious freedom is every American’s birthright. Americans shouldn’t have to abandon their faith at the schoolhouse door. No other reasons are needed to support House Bill 3240.
That said, there are many practical reasons everyone should want Oklahoma school kids to get more opportunities to engage with their religion.
Oklahoma is one of the most conservative Republican states in the country. If you are conservative and want it to stay that way, you don’t want religious engagement to decrease, because highly religious people are the most solidly Republican constituency.
Even if you’re not religious or conservative, you should be concerned about living in a community devoid of religious values. A Pew Research study found that people who are religiously engaged are happier, more active in their community and live longer. They also cope better with life challenges, like cancer diagnoses or the sudden death of a child. Declining religious engagement puts all of Oklahoma’s well-being at risk.
Prayer is good for kids. It’s good for society. Prayer in schools, under the conditions laid out in this bill, is also constitutional.
Four years ago, the United States Supreme Court fundamentally changed the way it interpreted the Establishment Clause. The Court had long interpreted that clause to provide that the state, including schools, could not “endorse religion.” In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022), the Court announced that it was unequivocally abandoning that “endorsement test.” Going forward, the Court will apply the Establishment Clause by reference to “historical practices and understandings” to “faithfully reflec[t] the understanding of the Founding Fathers.”
Given that prayer and Bible reading were commonplace in public schools at the founding and for most of American history, school prayer and religious text reading clearly pass the “historical practice” test the Court now uses.
In addition, the religious practices involved in the previous school prayer cases were marred by coercive features that led the Court to strike them down. In Engel, state officials actually wrote the text of the prayer. In Schempp, the prayers were broadcast over the school’s public address system within the hearing of students who did not consent. House Bill 3240 is specifically written to prevent these ill-advised practices.
School can be tough for a lot of kids. That’s why it’s wrong to deprive them of an effective opportunity to engage with their faith in school. More than two-thirds of Oklahomans support prayer in schools. The Oklahoma Senate should give the people what they want by passing House Bill 3240.
About the author: Trey Dellinger is a senior legal fellow with AFA Action and chief of staff for former Mississippi Speaker Philip A. Gunn.