Losing Your Freedom

This is a statement that was read over the PA system at the football game at Roane County High School, Kingston, Tennessee, by school Principal, Jody McLoud, on September 1, 2000. I thought it was worth sharing with the world and hope you will forward it to all your friends. It shows clearly just how far this country has gone in the wrong direction.

"It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games, to say a prayer and play the National Anthem, to honor God and Country. Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a Prayer is a violation of Federal Case Law.

As I understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it, "an alternate lifestyle," and if someone is offended, that's OK. I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity, by dispensing condoms and calling it, "safe sex." If someone is offended, that's OK. I can even use this public facility, to present the merits of killing an unborn baby, as a "viable means of birth control." If someone isoffended, no problem. I can designate a school day as, "Earth Day" and involve students in activities to worship religiously and praise the goddess, "Mother Earth," and call it "ecology."

I can use literature, videos and presentations in the classroom that depict people with strong, traditional Christian convictions as, "simple minded" and "ignorant" and call it, "enlighten-ment." However, if anyone uses this facility to honor God, and to ask Him to bless this event with safety and good sports-manship, then Federal Case Law is violated. This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at worst, diabolical. Apparently, we are to be tolerant of everything and anyone, except God and His Commandments.

Nevertheless, as a school principal, I frequently ask staff and students to abide by rules with which they do not necessarily agree. For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best, and at worst, hypocritical. I suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally. I certainly do not need to add an intentional transgression. For this reason, I shall "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's," and refrain from praying at this time. However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank God, and ask Him, in the name of Jesus, to bless this event, please feel free to do so. As far as I know, that's not against the law----yet."

One by one, the people in the stands bowed their heads, held hands with one another, and began to pray. They prayed in the stands. They prayed in the team huddles. They prayed at the concession stand, and they prayed in the announcer's box. The only place they didn't pray was in the Supreme Court of the United States of America - the seat of "justice" in the "one nation, under God."

Somehow, Kingston, Tennessee remembered what so many have forgotten. We are given the Freedom OF Religion, not the Freedom FROM Religion. Praise God that His remnant remains!

Celebrate Jesus in 2002! Jesus said, "If you are ashamed of Me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father."

Yes, I do Love God. He is my source of existence and Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I will be nothing, but with Him, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. Phillipians 4:13

The wall that separates Chuch and State.... you dig me up the reference in the BoR and the Constitution and we'll talk.

Your cheesy little "do it in private" BS doesn't pass the litmus test. Where is your outrage when those schools in SoCal are teaching Islam to promote "diversity"? The only separation of church and state in this nation is between the state and Christianity. Worship Satan, cool. Your a hindu, welcome to Shady Oaks Elementary Indoctrination Center for International Understanding, pleased to have you.... Islam your flavor, well Inshallah to ya my brother... YOUR A CHRISTIAN! Oh F***, somebody call the cops, we have a right-wing terrorist on school grounds, AHHHH, run for your lives...

Thousands of Christians and Jews are slaughtered every week, and nary a peep from you. But Oh My God, some whiny tree-hugging pagan has to sit through a friggin prayer at a school assembly, and you get all worked up. Pray tell WHY!

I never said to censor it. It can be published and placed in bookstores. Will you admit that foisting these books into public schools is as much a foisting of morality (or a code of moral ethos) as is religion? Simply because one does not define in a dictionary sense Political Correctness as a religion does not make it not one. I would submit to you that it is a "Religion" every bit as much as christianity is.

Let me offer an example. In Nazi Germany, Hitler established a "Religion" for lack of a better term to be used by his SS. It included all the trappings of ceremony, rituals and ethical codes and yet is was not Christian, Jewish or anything else. Similarly, Political Correctness contains the same things that make it a de facto religion whether its adherents call it one or not. It has its "gay Pride" week/month, black history month. Multicultural celebrations and so forth.

So you are in favor of "forcing" children to be taught that Homosexuality is acceptable, regardless of what their own religious beliefs lead them to think? Is that no forcing someone to accept something they find distasteful or offensive? Is that "tolerance" for something others find abhorrent not a tenet of Political Correctness?

" If you have the freedom to worship as you please, why in the world would you want to deny that same freedom to other Americans?"

What makes you think I want to stop you from worshipping any way you wish? It seems to be you that has a problem with others worshipping as they wish.

Who or what gives you the right to determine what ANYONE shall read or see? You only have the right to determine this for yourself, not for anyone else!

BTW, these books or their substantial equivalent are required reading in some school districts. Who gives the schoolboard the RIGHT to insist that students read something, and be judged by grade on it, for something that they find offensive? isn't that the same reason some schools have taken Huck Finn off the reading list? Or does the tolerance only go in one direction?

How does a prayer for the players safety limit YOUR freedom, anyway?

And no, you haven't answered my last question, you dodged it. Why does Christianity irritate you so, while the free practice of Islam/ Hinduism/ et al bother you in no way. Nobody is forcing you to worship or not, I dare say no true follower of Christ would even contemplate such action (if they do, they are no true follower of Jesus). Faith demanded at the tip of a sword is no faith at all. It is despotism, and happens to be the modus operandi of the Followers of the Big Black Rock (Islam, my favorite tongue in cheek appelation for it). Nobody wants to force YOU to do anything, pal. We wish YOU would LET US worship our Lord in peace.

Why can't you continue to practice your religion in your churches and in your home? Why do the rest of us have to be subjected to it in public?

Hey, then let's send Kwaanza to the homes and churches (oops, no churches)
Let's send Islam there, but wait "Islam means peace."
Let's send the Gay Agenda there, but wait that's intolerant.

You go ahead and take care of getting these things out of the public eye, then we'll chat.

Whether you agree or disagree with the ideas expressed in "Heather has two mommies" or with "Daddy's roommate" is unimportant. In case you don't know, we have freedom of the press in this country, as well as freedom of speech.

Sir/mam, you can not even stay consistent in your arguments. You say I can disagree with "Heather has Two Mommies" being reading material in schools, and that's no issue because of "freedom of speech and freedom of press", but saying a prayer at a football game does not fall under "free excersize thereof" in your opinion . Simply saying a prayer in public is "religious dictatorship". LOL!! I am the first to stand up against those who wish to use the force of law to force you to live a certain way, but you are WAY off the deep end. I suppose you are about 16 too.

You cannot prohibit the free exercise of religion in public areas.

I won't pray in your home without permission, but you cannot stop me or others from doing so.

You have no Constitutinoal right to not be offended; the Constitution protects my right to pray at football games, city council meetings, etc as long as I'm not compelling anyone else to do so.

YOUR intolerance of freedom is appalling.

YOUR intolerance of freedom is appalling.

BUMP!!

If it wasn't for the "anti-christian" overtones of this freepers postings, I would say his rants sound like a few people we know when they "forget their meds". LOL!

"I say "HOORAY" for differences! How boring it would be to live in a world where everyone was the same, worshipped the same, thought the same. I cherish differences!!!"

Lemme guess, you are about to tell us how "diversity is our strength".

Pack it up, and head back to DU. The relevence of gay monkey sex to the First Amendment will probably be more welcome there.

I sincerely doubt that any school in this country is teaching children homosexuality. I would guess that what is being taught is TOLERANCE, a word that people on this list don't seem to understand.

Hmmm. So "sincerely doubt" goes to "I guess". From my vantage point, I "would guess" you don't know sh!t from shinola. If your rantings weren't so inherently hilarious and juvenile, I would further crtique your gibberish.

Oh, and to blast public prayer and then say we don't understand the word "tolerance" - well, LOL!!! You will learn someday when you grow up.

For more than 200 years the separation of church and state has been the way the courts have interpreted the Bill of Rights and the law of the land.

200 years you say? Then exactly how did states within the union charge church taxes after the signing of the Constitution(Massachusetts until the 1850s REQUIRED 5% tax), how did the requirement of state constitutions for elected officials to believe in 'Almighty God' pass muster(some still in effect as late as 1987 challenged in court)? The only, and I mean the ONLY instance you see is the letter by Jefferson drudged up time and time again and rebutted time and time again. The issue Jefferson was addressing was between denominations of the Christian faith. Many were concerned that Danbury Baptists were being unfairly physically attacked by COE members within Virginia. But several states did have official churches legally and Constitutionally. Only after 1867 and the illegally passed 14th Amendment did this become the issue of which you speak.

So no, it has not been 200 years and as much as you try to revise history, it still doesn't change the facts

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