Posted on 05/28/2011 9:41:31 PM PDT by smokingfrog
A federal lawsuit was filed Friday by the Americans United for Separation of Church and State to prevent a Texas school district from allowing prayer during graduation, according to FoxSanAntonio.com.
The suit was filed on behalf of Christa and Danny Schultz, who have two children in the Medina Valley Independent School District, including one graduating on June 4, according to the San Antonio Express.
The group wants the school district to remove a student-led invocation and benediction, but the school district says that the remarks do not violate any laws or school policy, according to the Express.
"Public schools can't require students to take part in religious worship as the price of attending their graduation. This is settled law, and the district needs to stop resisting it," the Rev. Barry Lynn, the group's executive director, told the paper.
A school spokesman says the group is just trying to create a political debate.
"It is sad that someone would choose the commencement exercises of the 50th anniversary of our school district as a forum for stirring political debate that threatens to needlessly cast a shadow of controversy over the pinnacle event of the class of 2011," school board president Roland Ruiz told the paper.
According to the Schultz's attorney, they previously asked the district to stop public prayers during school events.
"They're not atheists, they're actually agnostic, and (the parents) don't believe a school-sponsored prayer should be part of a school-sponsored event," attorney Don Flanary told the Express.
The group says their son might not attend his graduation if they don't eliminate the prayer during the ceremony.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
paging jay sekulow.....
And when my kids graduated, they did an informal "thankyougodthankyougodthankyougod" happy dance all the way down the stairs.
/johnny
Placemark.
They ought to pray and risk whatever comes their way. And all their families can pray. And if I lived around there I’d come and join the prayer.
Mass prayer civil disobedience time.
Boo freaking hoo.
Don’t mess with Texas. We still believe in God here.
Score 1 for the good guys!
Stay out of our schools..
Sounds like a win-win, doesn't it?
Wonder why Christa is not offended by her name.
You betcha!
_______________________
Sunday smiles:
Mother cat hugs baby kitten (Absolutely adorable):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw4KVoEVcr0&feature=player_embedded
(Viral on YouTube, made it to Good Morning America)
****
Phoebe Allen, the hummingbird, presently hatching her fifth clutch:
(Live cam)
FALWELL: Oh, listen, some of the greatest opponents we have to honoring Christ in this country are guys like Reverend Barry Lynn and others who — he is about as reverend as an oak tree. He’s never pastored a church in his life. I’ve asked him, where is the church you’ve ever preached in? Well, he likes — that reverend name gives him respectability.
But the fact is that there are liberals in the pulpits as well as in the politics. And the fact is, free speech is right. Little children should be able to sing “Silent Night” and “Rudolph [the Red-Nosed Reindeer]” in the same setting, and say their prayers over their meals without some bigot thinking that they’re breaking the law.
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200512020015
Atheist leftists may one day be wishing to pray with all their might but sadly and perhaps it comes when its too late for them. Psalms 14:1—The fool has said in his heart; there is no God.
>>> The group says their son might not attend his graduation if they don’t eliminate the prayer during the ceremony.
That’s funny in a way. I’d have paid cash out of my own pocket to get out of the banalities and general tedium of my own high school graduation. I was stuck, but maybe this kid figured out a scam that might work.
The group says their son might not attend his graduation if they don’t eliminate the prayer during the ceremony.
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out son...
What is wrong with these friggin people?
They are so arrogant that they think they can shove their views down the throats of the majority of everyone.
In God we Trust
Trying to take God out of this country is destroying our country.
The people we used to laugh at are now directing policy.
Queers ,Atheists,Code Pinko’s,Feminazi’s,, people we used to call sick nutso’s have gained a foothold and are in positions to destroy what’s left of America. It’s getting so the land of the free is only free to Whacko’s
Several years ago a Federal judge in Texas issued an injunction prohibiting the Valdictorian from leading a prayer. In Court he looked her in the eye and promised he throw her into the slammer for contempt if she so much as mentioned the word "God". Half way through her speech she paused and the entire audience spontaneously broke out into the Lord's Prayer. God will out.
“The group says their son might not attend his graduation if they don’t eliminate the prayer during the ceremony.”
Excellent....if they don’t like the STUDENT-LED prayer, they don’t have to attend.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.