Posted on 06/05/2013 10:54:28 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. – A high school valedictorian from South Carolina ripped up his approved speech on stage this past weekend, and minutes later, delivered the Lord’s Prayer in defiance of the school district’s decision to no longer include prayer at graduation ceremonies.
Roy Costner IV drew loud applause and cheers when he surprised attendees of the Liberty High School graduation at Clemson’s Littlejohn Colliseum on Saturday.
“From the ACLU sending FOIA requests to every district in the state this year after the Chesterfield County case, then the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent us a complaint about religion at board meetings and some other issues as well,” Pickens County School District spokesman John Eby said, the district has been under fire.
Therefore, officials decided to end invocations at all school functions and replace prayer at high school graduations with a moment of silence.
However, Costner wasn’t going to let activist groups kick God out of his graduation. After taking the podium, Costner took his approved speech and ripped it in half for all to see.
“They write their speeches,” Eby told local television station WYFF. “They send them to someone on staff to have them approved.”
After speaking from a separate script for a few minutes, Costner then began to thank his parents for his Christian upbringing.
“Those that we look up to, they have helped carve and mold us into the young adults that we are today,” he said. “I’m so glad that both of my parents led me to the Lord at a young age.”
“And I think most of you will understand when I say…” he continued, surprising the crowd with what came next.
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name,” Costner declared. “Thy Kingdom come…”
As attendees realized that Costner was reciting the Lord’s Prayer, applause began to break out in the colliseum. Within seconds, the applause was accompanied by loud cheers.
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” he continued. “For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”
The crowd again broke into cheers and applause as Costner concluded, and one faculty member sat smiling behind him.
“I think it took a lot of courage to do that,” attendee Logan Gibson told reporters. “People were [supportive] that he stood up for what he believed in.”
Eby said that the district will not be taking any action against Costner.
“The bottom line is, we’re not going to punish students for expressing their religious faiths,” he stated. “He’s a graduate now. There’s nothing we can do about it, even if we wanted to.”
An online video of Costner’s prayer has received over 13,000 hits and more than 300 likes since yesterday.
This kid ROCKS..God Bless Him!!
I expect next year the high school will have cops on standby at the graduation ceremony in case the valedictorian decides to go off script and pray.
They’ll probably tase him and maybe even shoot him. I just hope the crowd of parents are prepared for that possibility.
IRS audit follows.
I would LOVE to see that be replicated throughout the country.
Hope you don't mind if I 'repair' this and restate it. It's a really good adage.
There will always be prayer in school as long as there are tests.
A very young man has stood strong against tyranny. So noted by our Father In Heaven, I’m sure.
Outstanding!! Perhaps there is hope.
I am Jewish, and this brought a tear of hope to my eye. America was founded with Christian faith at its core, and will not survive if we drive it from the public sphere. I love my Christian brothers and sisters and will continue to work withn them to take back freedom of religion from the atheists and Marxists who want only to bring our nation down.
Made me want to cry.
God Bless America, and God Bless Roy Costner IV
His parents must be so proud of him. I am.
Well.... the new Emergency Preparedness Manual from the DHS states that in such an emergency, the parents will all proceed to hide under the bleachers and be ready to produce their 'papers' for identification.
Atheists will probably make another run.
But why listen to them? Why give them a platform. If they are correct then they are just animated blobs of flesh and bone with no soul.
The ‘separation of church and state’ is as much lie as Josh Suggermann’s ‘assault rifles’.
Our youth are waking up - for the good.
I re- read the article... he had an “approved speech?”. It is still a great story.
There won’t be a Valedictorian speech next year. Maybe they’ll bring in the Transgender Prom Queen to speak.
< /liberal shock and outrage moment >
Oh, those SC high school kids bump....
God Bless that courageous young man.
Something we may forget, rebellion is in kids.
If they are constantly force-fed liberalism, they could possibly rebel to our side.
The first part of your thesis is already here in MA. The second part is probably close...
Why do schools in red states even bother to respond to the ACLU and FFRF or their lawsuits? Doesn't anyone really believe if they get a court order and the school ignores it that Gov. Haley is going to order state troopers in to stop them?
Americans must realize that they can and must NULLIFY Federal judges and agencies and their directives when it comes to religion. The Constitution plainly says only "Congress" is restricted from "establishment", and the 10th Amendment protects the states from Fed involvement.
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