One of the assumptions on which the United States is built is that the average person is really pretty smart, and is therefore capable of governing himself, as long as he follows certain fairly obvious rules. And I think this is largely true. To the extent that it is not true, this simple assumption is at least something to which we can and should aspire. We plan and run our own lives (well, until recently, anyway), and elect our own representatives (well, maybe, anymore). It's not perfect, but the basic assumption works well enough much of the time, which engenders a sense of trust between us and our fellow citizens. Then along comes the Indiana legislature with the likes of this, in their Senate Bill 251:

Sec. 4.6. (a) In order that each student recognize the importance of spiritual development in establishing character and becoming a good citizen, the governing body of a school corporation or the equivalent authority of a charter school may require the recitation of the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of each school day. The prayer may be recited by a teacher, a student, or the class of students.

(b) If the governing body or equivalent authority requires the recitation of the Lord's Prayer under subsection (a), the governing body or equivalent authority shall determine the version of the Lord's Prayer that will be recited in the school corporation or charter school.

(c) A student is exempt from participation in the prayer if:
(1) the student chooses not to participate; or
(2) the student's parent chooses to have the student not participate.

This bill contains several hedges against charges of oppression. The school district may require this prayer, but doesn't have to, and is even allowed to select which version of this Christian prayer is used. Also, the student may participate, but doesn't have to. How nice. It would have been nicer if it said that each student in some random order can specify which prayer from whatever religion is said each day, or perhaps no prayer at all that day, but even that wouldn't make this travesty okay.

To truly understand the impact of this bill, perhaps the senators of the great state of Indiana will agree to be compelled to visit their local rifle range daily and parade the target line while wearing shirts with concentric circles painted on them. This is similar to the position they place a student in, should the student choose not to participate in this supposedly voluntary prayer.

I can hear it now: "Oh no, everything will be fine! No one reciting the Lord's Prayer would ever do anything to hurt someone else."

But things happen in school hallways, and on school buses, and at the mall on weekends. Things the school, or Jesus, wouldn't necessarily approve of. Things the school, and Jesus, are in fact powerless to stop. Things that, by all rights, should be legally classified anywhere from chronic harassment to felony assault. Things like this happen all the time. If someone tries to tell you they don't, that someone is living in a fantasy world. And trying to use the school administration or the police to treat such problems often only makes these problems worse. We don't need to aggravate the situation with ill-conceived laws.