Posted on 05/25/2016 6:48:47 AM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com
The 70-year tradition of singing the Lord's Prayer during a high school graduation was nearly eliminated by the nation's largest atheist group. The valedictorian chose to deliver it anyway.
Traditionally, the Lord's Prayer was sung by East Liverpool's choir and was considered a significant part of their graduation ceremony.
When the Freedom Foundation for Separation of Church and State claimed East Liverpool school's tradition was a violation, school administrators chose to oblige their wishes, cancelling the song, avoiding a legal battle.
Larry Walton, school board president said the decision not to fight against the atheist group was a basic matter of economics.
"We said, 'Okay, we just won't do it anymore.' It was a decision made because we don't have a lot of money and we'd rather hire teachers than pay lawyers," Walton said. "It's a war we can't win."
However, the graduating class of 2016 wanted to honor the school's tradition. They did not back down.
Class Valedictorian Jonathan Montgomery took the stage and led the class in reciting the Lord's Prayer. The defiant move was met with a standing ovation for the graduates who stood up for their school.
It is reported that Walton is looking to have a nondenominational graduation ceremony in 2017.
In a misleading Kabuki theater? Where Jesus and even God are made a token? “My name is on their lips but their hearts are far from Me.”
Well played.
I agree. Many of the communities, founded by the early settlers of what was to become America, were motivated by the desire to publicly express their Faith, and a particular Faith based focus. The idea of Leftist leaning Judges ordering those communities to, in effect, abandon a major part of their functional purpose, ought to offend any Conservative, who believes in the right of communities to preserve their heritage. (This should not even be in any way dependent upon the individual Conservative’s particular identification with respect to specific religious belief.)
And just where do you get that from?
It’s not about the school administration *preaching Christ*.
It’s about allowing freedom of worship and allowing a prayer at the graduation ceremony as had been done for decades.
If you try to separate God from our lives and education, you get the mess we’re in now. SOMETHING is going to move in to fill the vacuum.
There are several problems with your line of thinking. First off, the whole public education thing we have going on here is a contrivance of the government. Government should not be in the business of education. Control of schools should be at the local lever as was done for centuries.
Second, the Founding Fathers had no problem with prayer and Bible reading in schools as was done until the fairly recent past. It was part of *public* education until the government stepped in and removed it. Education was never inherently Godless.
You’re acting as if a God free education is a neutral position. It’s not. There can be no neutral with then are only two sides to an issue. There’s eight God or there’s not God.
And the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not freedom FROM religion. I don’t know whose side you’re on in this debate, but it doesn’t appear to be God’s or Christian’s.
We’ll make a Christian out of you yet.
Make that.....
Theres either God or theres not God.
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