Posted on 11/23/2005 10:30:31 AM PST by AZRepublican
"Seeing as this event was organized by the school, an arm of the government, the school has a right as a matter of policy to control the content."
Good point - then you wouldnt disagree that the school could also support her in her right to say this. Again the community, i.e. in this case the school has the right to determine the content, not you, not the ACLU, or an unelected judge.
Are you afraid to answer my post 151, Im waiting.
Sorry, no. Calling audience members at a state school graduation to come up and accept Jesus is over the line and is unacceptable. That said, a law suit is an over-reaction.
Your point regarded the students free speech rights. The school isn't the issue, they consider it inappropriate.
I presume Your argument starts to fall apart if we see all opinions equal means in your view the Muslim girl's call for Shahadah is not "protected" speech, whereas the Christian girl's call for an altar call is protected. Sorry, that turns the entire bill of rights on it's head. You need to either find another argument, or accept the fact that Muslims can prostyelize on the same terms as Christians.
Particularly since the school has resolved the problem.
The problem with your AC anology is that the young lady didn't barge up on stage, she was invited to speak. I agree that graduation is not the proper place for an altar call, however, since we are a free people she is free to make her inapproriate altar call. The government must respect her freedom and leave her alone.
By the way if you think they should have forcibly removed her from the stage, what level of violence should the government use to get her away from the microphone? A backhand to the face? A billy club to the back of the head? A tazer to the abdomen? .40 S&W to central body mass?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
forcing ateenager to shut up and not mention jesus when she is at graduation is pretty much abridging her freedom of speech and religion wouldnt you say someone needs to get this girl a lawyer and sue the aclu for stifling her freedom of speech and religion and dont settle out of court she needs to get them for everything she can
It seems I am not the only one here who thinks this behavior is out-of-bounds. It is this level-headed community that is clearly in my corner here. Even those who think the ACLU is overboard in suing don't defend the right you think this girl has to turn her speech into an altar call.
SD
Agreed. She did this for personal glory not God's. This type of whack job gives Christians a bad name.
Don't give the statists on here any ideas.
This is a question that has no bearing on the discussion. If you have a point to make, please explain further.
SD
The school board has a policy, Our policy is to not recognize any particular religion and not to recognize religion, period,” said Mixon, “In this case, the student was on the school program as giving a prayer, and that does go against our policies, which the speaker violated. A rather simple problem. The contension of many posters seems to be that somehow the girl has a First Amendment right to evangelize irrespective of school policy.
Seems to me that the only one they can sue is Ms. Reed. She disturbed their peace ;-)
Maybe, but is the ACLU suing people for selfish behavior now?
That's a very socialist way of thinking.
Uh, how so? Where do you think public schools get their money & legal authority? I don't even support public education, but I fail to see how it's "socialist" to merely acknowledge their existence.
Uh, how so? Where do you think public schools get their money & legal authority?
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Our tax dollars? Our votes that put them on the school board?
Well, it is monopolistic and it is an arm of government. So in the broadest sense it is "socialist."
If you read the linked article, apparently the school had an existing policy barring recognizing a particular religion or prayer in school ceremonies, but it was only selectively enforced. Probably using common sense. My guess, this girl's main accomplishment will be the barring of any and all religious references of any kind in school ceremonies. ...................................
The Jonesboro Public School District does have a policy on religious beliefs and school ceremonies.“Our policy is to not recognize any particular religion and not to recognize religion, period,” said Mixon, “In this case, the student was on the school program as giving a prayer, and that does go against our policies.”
“I'm here to tell you that God is someone, that he is amazing,” said Reed during her speech, “He will love you through everything. He will praise you when you are down. All you have to do is give your heart to Him. And before we leave, I want to give you that opportunity.”
But Mixon says it's a policy that will be enforced and a problem that won't happen again.
“It has occurred from time to time that students speak their mind about religion, or about prayer at graduation. The problem comes when the school recognizes that,” said Mixon, “And we had a lapse where our policy about prayer was apparently not followed that is still being investigated, but we can assure the ACLU and the public that that will not happen again.”
Absolutely correct, assuming that they supported the right of anyone else to do the same with respect to their belief system. So yes, certainly the school could adopt a (stupid) policy of allowing students to evangelize during graduation speeches. However, in this case they did NOT do so -- they explicitly state that the girl's behavior violated their policy. And a school that encouraged such hijacking of their own graduation ceremonies would probably get a lot of complaints from the parents & other community members.
And those factors, in your mind, are not sufficient to make the school a part of the government?!?
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