Studying the biography of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, I have come across various atheistic claims like this from "positiveatheism":

The notion that vocal group prayer in school -- voluntary individual silent prayer never having been banned -- would or could prevent antisocial behavior is egregious nonsense....

Beginning in 1933 the Nazi government in Germany required daily prayer in all public and private schools. And the whole world knows how much effect that had on the Wehrmacht and SS troops who overran and occupied most of Europe.

Did the Nazis institute school prayer? Yes, it appears they did, but not precisely as the somewhat deceptive presentation above implies:

The NAZI Party sought to create a religious cult with the various pledges and prayers that they developed for children. Songs and pledges were developed to reinforce the idea of commitment to and sacrifice, even death for the German nation and its Fuhrer -- Adolf Hitler. School children were expected to say certain prayers to Hitler before meals... Songs were written to the tune of church hymns with words praising Hitler and the German nation.

And:

[Hitler] did not view the Party and the Reich merely as secular organizations. "I consider those who establish or destroy religion much greater than those who establish a State, to say nothing of founding a Party," he had written in Mein Kampf. And years later he told his followers, "We are not a movement, rather we are a religion." ....

[Hitler] remarked that his task was not to communicate knowledge "but holy conviction and unconditional faith." He viewed the 25 articles of his Party as "the dogma of our faith" and the "rock" upon which the Party was built. Hitler's proclamation of the "Thousand Year Reich" has religious resonance. He was also fond of speaking of the "inseparable Trinity" of State, Movement, and Volk. As the sign and symbol of his movement Hitler chose a special type of cross, and personally modified the design of this Hakenkreuz....

Hitler substituted Nazi high holy days for traditional religious holidays. The Nazi holidays included 30 January, the day he came to power in the year he referred to as "the holy year of our Lord 1933," and 20 April, his own birthday and the day when the Hitler Youth were confirmed in their faith. The holiest day, and the one which served as a kind of Nazi Good Friday, was 9 November, celebrated as the Blood Witness [Blutzeuge] of the movement.

Hitler also provided the holy scriptures for his new religion and Mein Kampf, instead of the Bible, took the place of honor in the homes of thousands of German families. With a lack of humor typical of the regime, the Nazis chose this title to replace the prayer book as the appropriate wedding gift for young couples.

The parallel between Hitler and the Messiah was made explicit in German schools. On 16 March 1934 children wrote out the following dictation approved by Hitler's Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda:

Jesus and Hitler. As Jesus freed men from sin and Hell, so Hitler freed the German people from destruction. Jesus and Hitler were persecuted, but while Jesus was crucified Hitler was raised to the Chancellorship ... Jesus strove for Heaven, Hitler for the German earth.

The League of German Girls developed a new version of the Lord's Prayer which was a supplication not only for the Fuhrer but to him as a deity:

Adolf Hitler, you are our great Leader. Thy name makes the enemy tremble. They Third Reich comes, thy will alone is law upon earth. Let us hear daily thy voice and order us by thy leadership for we will obey to the end even with our lives. We praise thee! Heil Hitler!

Sure, the Nazis mandated prayer in schools -- but the prayers were to Hitler, not to the Christian God. And the "religion" of the Nazi party was similar to Christianity, but substituted the state and it's leader in for the traditional role of God. As with modern "liberal" Christianity, the words and forms used are similar to those used by traditional Christianity, but the meanings are subtly altered. Also note the general leftism present: The state as God, the desire to achieve an earthly paradise.

Just to be clear, when a Christian makes a claim about "prayer" being effective at improving character, by that, they don't mean prayers to Hitler.

To bolster their case, the folks at "positiveatheism" also present this misleading argument:

"One Jonesboro parent, groping for an explanation for the school shootings this week, said, 'If they hadn't taken prayer out of school, this never would have happened.' He was onto something." Thus pontificated the ultra-conservative Washington Times.

Though the irony escapes the Times' editors, the 11- and 13-year-old children arrested for the five Jonesboro murders March 25 were active church members.

Actually, no. As far as I could tell, only one was. Or had been, once. But it seems he'd adopted an entirely different kind of "daily mediation" than prayer during the time period leading up to the shooting:

My name is Debbie Pelley. I am a teacher at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas and was present when four students and one teacher were killed and ten others injured by two 11 and 13 year old boys as the students evacuated the school building when a false fire alarm sounded on March 24, 1998.

I was the English teacher for the 13 year old, Mitchell Johnson, and had him in class an hour a day from August 15 to March 24. Mitchell was always respecifid, using yes mam and no mam in his responses to me. In my class I never saw him exhibit anger, never saw him commit any hostile act toward any other student or exhibit any behavior that would make me think Mitchell could commit this act. In fact, he had a pleasant and even cheerful disposition and appeared to enjoy his many friends, and to enjoy life in general.

In a discussion with 7th grade classes the first day they were back at school after this tragedy, a discussion led by myself and another licensed professional counselor, James N Woods, students explored possible reasons Mitchell could have committed this act- The students said that Mhchell had been listening to gangster rap music, and in particular to Tupac Shakur. They also said he bad started to change a lot in the last two or three months.

On succeeding days numerous students on many occasions contributed the following information TuPac Shakur and another rap group, Bone Thugs & Harmony, were Mitchells favorite musical groups. (At this point I had never heard of either of these groups.) Mitchell brought this music to school with him; listened to it on the bus; tried listening to it in classes, sang the lyrics over and over at school, and played a cassette in the bathroom "about Corning to school and killing all the kids". Students said that in the last couple of months Mitchell was always making the gang sign that is on the cover of TuPac's album, All Eyes On Me and that Mitchell was far more into this music than anyone else they knew....

On June 1st Mitchell Johnson's mother said that Mitchell himself said that the music may have influenced him and that the music sort of draws you in.

I'm not here to blame some kind of music for the killings. But the point is obvious: this is a boy who was leaving behind his former religious habits, and filling his head with a worldview antithetical to the Christian one.

Would daily prayer have changed things? I can't say for sure. But the fact the killer had once attended church -- (choir, really) -- but was now interested in violent music instead -- is hardly evidence against his former religious lifestyle and morals. Indeed it suggests the opposite: That his movement away from Christian themes and messages was an important step in developing the mental framework he would use to plan to slay so many of his schoolmates.

Finally, an irony: If the case against the efficacy of prayer is so strong, why use all these distortions to sell it? Here's a group of people who say prayer has nothing to do with improving character, who themselves don't pray, and who then use deception to make that case! That's certainly not good firsthand evidence in favor of the point they're trying to make.