Posted on 06/22/2006 10:46:58 AM PDT by UnklGene
High School Valedictorian Refuses to Bow Down; Has Speech Censored
June 21, 2006
Brittany McComb was the valedictorian at Foothill High School recently. She graduated with a 4.7 GPA. She earned the right to address the other graduates at Foothill, located in Henderson, Nevada.
She gave a copy of her graduating speech to the school administrators. It contained some Biblical references and even mentioned (one time) the name “Christ.” The school administrators censored some of the Biblical references. They also censored the single reference to Christ.
Then the school officials handed the speech over to the ACLU for approval and/or more censoring. After getting the OK from the ACLU, Brittany’s speech (minus the censored references to the Bible and Christ) was approved. Brittany was warned that if she deviated from the ACLU approved language, her mike would be cut off.
Then came the moment for the big decision. She would not bow down, she decided. She would go with her original version. She stepped to the mike and began her speech. But just before she could utter the name “Christ,” her mike went dead. School officials silenced her. The crowd of 400 jeered for several minutes, angry at the action of the school officials. The ACLU was happy. They had silenced another Christian.
“I went through four years of school at Foothill and they taught me logic and they taught me freedom of speech. God’s the biggest part of my life. Just like other valedictorians thank their parents, I wanted to thank my lord and savior,” Brittany said.
Because she refused to bow down to the ACLU’s idol of gold, she did not get her wish. She was censored.
This young heroine deserves praise and a thank you from those who believe in free speech.
Is it true that his autobiography is titled "An Incontinent Goof"? ;-P
The ACLU wants the religion of secular humanism, as defined by the blackrobed ACLU-loving judges, to be worshipped by every organism on the planet. Christian beliefs compete with ACLU power and financial incentives.
Let see:
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.
I don't see anything in there that says speaking of one's faith is a form of the government "promoting any particular religion".
You might want to study up on the other 9 amendments in the Bill of Rights .. they're breathtaking.
"Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides." --Margaret Thatcher
She DID know. The school administrators reviewed her speech well before the commencement and told her that her comments were inappropriate and had to be changed. Instead she chose to lie to the adminstrators and continue on with a speech she had already been told she couldn't give. In another thread on this topic I said she should have raised a stink about it before the commencement, but she chose not to, likely because, as sinkspur said, she wouldn't have gotten any attention for doing that.
If the valedictorian were Muslim at my child's school, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be hearing "praise Allah" during his speech. I doubt any of you would either.
The point isn't whether I want to hear it or not ... the point is that the First Amendment (prior to the pc police taking control) guarantees the right to say it.
"This is a tough one for me."
Not for me, real easy. Why, in this country, would you not be able to say this. You have got to be kidding me. I guess if she reference Allah, that would be alright.
I see your point. At first I was thinking that the school was sponsoring it, but that is not the case. Whether she was referencing Allah or Jesus or Vishnu, it shouldn't matter because it is her speech and her opinion. It's not being forced or mandated.
If the valedictorian were Muslim at my child's school, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be hearing "praise Allah" during his speech. I doubt any of you would either.
Where in the article did it say she "agreed" to anything? She stood and proclaimed her love for her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and credited Him for her success. May God Bless and keep the courageous young woman.
By censoring her, they violated her free speech rights, and her free excercise rights. The ACLU should be DEFENDING her!
She will never speak as Valedictorian in front of her class and their relatives again.
Exactly.
Big whoop. Nobody much remembers that kind of stuff two weeks later, let alone two years or twenty years. It's the kind of things mom's love, and underachievers in life bring up when they sit at bars alone in the early evening giving the questions on Jeopardy on tv.
If you talk to them, invariably they will tell you how all their friends say they should try out for Jeopardy, but when pressed for some names of some of these friends, they get confused.
The correct solution - which will never happen - is simply to abolish public screwels.
"She DID know. The school administrators reviewed her speech well before the commencement and told her that her comments were inappropriate and had to be changed."
That being the case, she should have edited her speech for review and then given her original speech. Officials would have been ill-prepared to turn off her mike.
What you "want to hear" is irrelevant in a constitutional republic.
How about people just having the intelligence to realize that a Valedictorian speech should be about 5 minutes - start out with a joke, mention a quote by JFK or MLK, try hard to apply the quote to high school, some mishmash about one chapter ending and another beginning, thank the teachers and parents, congratulate your peers, and just keep the show moving on a hot June day so people can get on with the post-ceremony fun.
As bad and as cliched as that rough outline is, it's far preferable to am obnoxious pest who got the idea that her tippy top grades somehow make the Valedictorian speech all about her.
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