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.
That would be fine by me, actually. If he cannot pray as his conscience dictates he is not a free man but is a slave and a vassal.
I take it you are expecting FReepers to have a different response? Why?
The first step. Keep it up.
yup.
Obama and his ilk have a new enemy.
The bible says that all that abides now is faith, HOPE, and love.
This warms my heart because it confirms my faith that God is still on the throne. Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and the ruler of ALL the nations, just as his word proclaims.
Gideon had 30,000 warriors but God only allowed him to use the 300 that He chose to win the battle and prove to everyone else who is in charge.
This young man is like Gideon and the Lord uses a few like him to confuse the masses. His work will go on and God will prevail. No doubt about it.
Montage813! My wife and I are Christians and we love our Jewish brothers and sisters. :-)
Montage813! My wife and I are Christians and we love our Jewish brothers and sisters. :-)
OUTSTANDING!!
Made My Day, IMHO this is the best post of the day.
:-)
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God bless this young man. What he did took courage and faith.
Eric Metaxas pointed out something important at CPAC this year. Hillary Clinton recently used the phrase ‘freedom of worship’ in a speech instead of freedom of religion. He maintains that there is a big difference between the two. FOW relegates religion to churches, temples, and not in the public sphere. He also pointed out that when Jefferson spoke of the separation of church and state, he and the founders knew that the State tends to take over anything it gets involved in, in this case, religious bodies and not vice versa.
Here’s the link for a great speech (the warm-up for Ben Carson):
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4389195
Mine would be to respectfully listen and thank God we have freedom of religion and freedom of speech. I would also say a silent prayer that the true God open the heart of the speaker so that he may know Jesus.
However, if he was flying my plane I would start praying real hard.
As a Christian, many of us see our Jewish brothers as our BIG brothers. We are your adopted brothers, brought into your family through Christ. The Jews are the chosen people of God, and we Christians are there through His grace.
Shalom to you and may God’s peace be upon you are your family.
My daughter recently went back to her high school for an alumni football game and said they prayed before the game. We just need to ignore the ridiculous rules of the left and do what we have the right to do.
To hell with the Anti-Christ Lawyers' Union.
Temples of Syrinx, eh 2112?
Good song, great album and prophetic...
Yep - pretty much sums up how things are going. Glad to see that not everyone will shut up. I see in the Christian youth of today that they seem to be much more focused on their faith than when I was growing up. For me as a kid, church was to meet kids (mainly girls!) and have fun.
The kids I see today are earning/raising money to go off on mission trips, mid-week Bible studies, service projects, etc.
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