Beyond the dream: 7 lesser-known facts about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
6. King supported the removal of faculty-led prayer in public schools
King was a clergyman, an activist who very much believed that churches should be involved in social change movements.
He headed an advocacy group called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; but that did not mean he did not have limits on how much church and state could mingle.
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In an interview published by Playboy in 1965, King explained that he supported the then recent U.S. Supreme Court decision removing faculty-led prayer from public schools.
"Contrary to what many have said, it sought to outlaw neither prayer nor belief in God. In a pluralistic society such as ours, who is to determine what prayer shall be spoken, and by whom? Legally, constitutionally or otherwise, the state certainly has no such right," said King.
"I am strongly opposed to the efforts that have been made to nullify the decision. They have been motivated, I think, by little more than the wish to embarrass the Supreme Court."
