Readin', 'Ritin' and Religion

It plucks all the right chords: God, church, family values and freedom. But there are some practical problems with the new "equal access" bill, which handily passed the Senate, 88 to 11, whisked through the House, 337 to 77, and is expected to be signed this week by President Reagan.

The bill, an amendment to a $1 billion education package, makes it unlawful for public high schools to bar student gatherings for "religious," "philosophical" or "political" meetings outside class hours. Several safeguards are designed to preserve the line between church and state. Meetings must be voluntary and student initiated. Proponents argue that the law would give students who wish to meet for religious purposes the same rights as students who gather for other reasons. Says Californian John Stoos, a regional director of the American Life Lobby: "It's surprising that we had to grovel for the same rights already given to Communists, Nazis and chess clubs."

Critics counter that students already have the right to pray voluntarily whenever they wish. Organized religious meetings, they note, could pressure students into conforming to practices that violate their consciences and could open a back door to school-sponsored prayer. Some fear the bill could turn classrooms into forums for fringe cults, such as the Moonies, and a variety of political and cultural groups, ranging from the Ku Klux Klan to gay rights organizations. A crush of meetings could strain budgets for maintenance and supervision. "The tragedy is that the President has been able to direct attention away from the real problems facing education to the non-issue of prayer in schools," says San Francisco School Superintendent Robert Alioto.

Some conservatives are concerned that the bill represents an abandonment of the principle of local control, an ironic posture for an Administration dedicated to limiting the intrusion of Big Government. "It tries to nationalize the kinds of problems that should be handled at the local level," declares Howard Hunter, an Emory University law professor.

There is confusion over the practical effects the law will have. Larry Foster, an attorney for the Clayton County school system, foresees few problems: "All this bill does is say to the religious folks, 'Hey, you can come in too.' " But Ralph Goldberg, a cooperating attorney with the Georgia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, says he plans to use the law in his suit on behalf of the Atlanta Peace Alliance, which wants access to the city's schools.

"The backers of this bill probably thought they were voting to put religion back in the schools," he notes. "But I don't know if they knew they were voting to put in my peace workers." Says Federal District Judge Marvin Shoob, who last year ruled in favor of an A.C.L.U. challenge to religious meetings that were being held in a suburban Atlanta junior high school: "The bill will create more problems than it solves. I expect to see a rash of lawsuits."