VA Bill to Make Religion a Right (Dig Your Own Grave)

I'm surprised the blogosphere, consumed as it is with Guckongate, hasn't said much on this article, which discusses an attempt by Virginia legislatures to guarantee the right to prayer:

The constitution states that people have the right to the "free exercise of religion," a sentence that was written mostly by George Mason and adopted in 1776. It goes on to guarantee that the General Assembly will not give any privilege or advantage to any one sect, that "no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship." That language, written by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted by the General Assembly in 1786.

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Carrico's proposed amendment reiterates that the state could not "establish any official religion" but says that "the people's right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, and traditions on public property, including public schools, shall not be infringed."

How that's not implied is beyond me. This isn't France - you can wear religious symbols. And, unless things have changed since I was in school, praying may get you laughed at, but it's not going to get you expelled.

What you can't do, however - and this is something the courts have reaffirmed on multiple occasions - is endorse the practices or teachings of a specific religion while acting in an official capacity. This means no prayer during football huddles (really, who has time to pray? shouldn't they be calling plays?), no religious songs in choir, etc.

But what I think is really interesting about this language is the "right to pray and recognize" clause. If your religion teaches you that it is your duty to proselytize, then shouldn't you be able to 'recognize' that belief under this law and summarily practice it? That would seem to mean that a teacher could inject his or her beliefs into a class discussion because it is her belief that she should share them with others. Sounds to me like this bill wouldn't find a wooden leg in court.

Really, though, I'd like to see what the Bible belt types say when Muslim children recognize the 3 prayers of the day they miss while in school. More and more, I see these 'oppressed Christian' complaints to be ignorant of what it would be like if their beliefs weren't the ones writing the laws.