Supreme Court ruling has no impact at CSULB

The Supreme Court's ruling against prayer in school will not affect the religious practices of Cal State Long Beach students, said Laurie Oester, the representative for the Roman Catholic Church at the University Interfaith Center.

The decision, which centered around student-led prayer before Texas high school's football game, holds that "student-led, student-initiated prayer violates the Establishment clause," which decrees the separation of church and state.

The ruling was based on a previous case where the court established that "the Constitution guarantees that government may not coerce anyone to support or participate in religion or its exercise, or otherwise act in a way that establishes a state religion or religious faith."

The University Interfaith Center, which is CSULB's primary religious organization, does not violate this ruling, Oester said. In order to join the center, religious organizations must sign an agreement that they will not proselytize or actively recruit students.

"Student come to us if they want that religious environment, and if they want to stay connected to their faith's traditions through the programming that we offer them," Oester said.

"It's very different from going to the front of a class and saying 'OK, let's start with a prayer now.' That's not what we do."