Poll: School District about to Get Sued

[thePyro_13]

I voted NO. It's okay to pray(individual students can do what they want), but not okay for it to be part of the school policy/classroom activity.

 

[gibboss28]

Question: was he being forced to pray?

 

[CondorBob]

He did the right thing as far as the law is concerned. What I'm more interested in is the website you gave the link to. "Friendly Athiest" my arse.

And before I forget, Jen McCreight's quote under the video made me lol so hard I fell out of my chair.

 

[bbad89]

I do agree with the kid, but the Friendly Atheist website is full of it.

 

[alandavidson]

I have a question, if you really don't care what people believe, then why do you care if they pray, I mean how will that affect you in anyway?

I have the same question.

 

[ninja51]

He just said its illegal to have mass public prayers and wouldnt want to be part of one. Its ok to pray to yourself or in small groups, but devoting a fair ammount of time during the actual graduation to praying is too much

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I get terribly offended when people don't pray to me, so yes, they should pray.

I don't really see what the big deal is. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. If they punish you for not doing it, then sue them.

 

[Gigano]

The only place for religion - or atheism - in public schools is being taught about from a neutral and descriptive point of view.

Worship is not part of education.

 

[lovest harding]

Whether I want to them to pray or not, it's illegal. That's it.
Read the Constitution. Ask the Supreme Court. It comes across as a government sanctioned prayer (whether that's what it is or not), which is illegal. They are a government run establishment, they have to follow the separation of church and state.
I won't go in to personal beliefs, because they aren't important. Just ignoring it if you dislike it, is not a valid point (it's similar to ignoring a robbery, when it's against the law, it's against the law).

EDIT: Here's a more respectable link from the blog of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (no law suit is mentioned): http://blog.au.org/2011/05/19/damon%E2%80%99s-contribution-louisiana-graduate-stands-up-for-constitution-%E2%80%93-and-gets-grief-for-it/

 

[Lone Skankster]

This man is a hero.

Not because he got prayer taken out of a ceremony, but because he stood up for his constitutional right to be free from Religion.

I agree that prayer isn't a big deal. If you don't believe in a god, then you believe they're just talking to themselves. However, Religion has no place in an institution of education. The emotional ties one has to their religion brings to much of a bias into the system.

He may be hated by his community, but he's a hero in my book.

 

[Bags159]

Gotta love some religious people. So much for practicing what you preach.

What an ass. (The guy in the article, not the OP) Why would he care if people around him prayed? It's not like he was being forced to, they just have a prayer in the ceremony. That doesn't mean you have to pray too.

EDIT: I don't believe in God, but to take prayer away from someone who does, is just fucking wrong. If you think people saying a prayer out loud, in a public school/setting is wrong or it's 'forcing religion down your throat' then you need to get over yourself and find something better to do.

When I read this part, it really angered me.

-'My reasoning behind it is that it?s emotionally stressing on anyone who isn?t Christian.'-

Get a life.

EDIT 2: After reading more of that link the OP gave, I'm guessing the site isn't legit. It sounds fake. Just like the Portal 2 gay sex review.

My school stopped me form having my own little prayer during our graduation ceremony since "it was mainly for local churches and not my religion."

and yes, the fact I couldn't thank whomever I believed in was very, very stressing, namely around the part that the Valedictorian was able to thank "God, her church, her family, and Jesus for allowing her to do all so well in school".


My taxes go to school districts like this one, and the law STATES that prayer in schools is forbidden.


don't like it? go to a religious school instead of a public one.


furthermore, I find it hilarious that the beliefs of one person should be marginalized for the majority. Great way to show how far our DEMOCRATIC country has come from trampling on the rights of others.

Oh and this. I'm fine with religious people being religious, but there's this little thing called the separation of church and state. It always annoyed me in high school that certain students got to miss class every day to pray and didn't have to do make up work. Oh well, I ended up with a 3.8 so I can't complain too much.

I think The reason most people disagree with it is because when you dont believe something but everyone around you is doing something like praying but you dont it feels incredibly awkward and uncomfortable. Imagine being a devout christian graduating from a school where they do a Muslim prayer at the end of it. That and its a Public school paid for by the Federal Government which has deemed Prayer in School is illegal because the Government is supposed to be secular and the education system is part of the Government.

Edit: Also the bible itself says that you should pray in private rather than public. Matthew 6.6

And I like this too; this is entirely correct. Whenever I go to a family holiday meal everyone prays so I just kind of pretend to avoid any awkward conflict.

The thing is, the Supreme Court has consistently held that school prayer is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment since 1962. All this student is doing, really, is asking the school to comply with the law. Instead, the District is showing nothing but contempt for the Constitution, and they should be ashamed.

As for the ?moment of silence? that is replacing the prayer, that particular scheme for getting around the Establishment Clause has been held unconstitutional since 1985 (see Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985)). What the school district needs to do is forget about trying to find loopholes, and ACTUALLY COMPLY with the First Amendment.

 

[Communist partisan]

In L.M Ström gymnasim we must pray 10 minutes every morning and go to church on fridays... I don't like it and I am a atheist, but whatever...

 

[hawkeye52]

if a student does it by himself or with a group then its fine just not when its a part of the actual school system

 

[Rotting Corpse]

http://friendlyatheist.com/2011/05/20/this-district-is-about-to-get-sued/

I was Browsing Fark and i saw this article. it blows my mind that prayer is still such an integral part of a schools graduation ceremony when it has been deemed illegal several times by the supreme court. I myself am an Atheist, however i do believe people are allowed to believe whatever they want to believe in private, in public especially places built by and paid for by the Federal Government religion has no place. Your Thoughts?

If someone wants to pray in school, there is nothing wrong with that. I hate hearing from Christians about how "we need to get prayer back into school" or "atheists took prayer out of school." No one took prayer out of school. What you can't do is have school run prayer. The school can't ask or tell you to pray. This school should be sued.

 

[royohz]

It's okay to pray in school. It is not, however, okay to require or organize prayers in school.

This, basically.

It's easy to say that "anyone can sit out", but it isn't right to odd out non-believers because that will make them stand out as "different". Most oftenly in a negative way.

 

[Dorian6]

People can pray if they want, but a public school is a government institution. It can't force them without infringing on the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Private schools are a separate matter. If I went to Notre Dame, I would have no basis to complain because it's a private, catholic college.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

I'm a Christian, and i agree that prayer has no place in any kind of official school function. Students should be allowed to pray, but school staff should have absolutely no part in it. If the prayer is part of a graduation ceremony and/or school staff is participating, the prayer is now being sponsored by the school and therefore by the government itself. So yes, sue the hell out of this school.

 

[Worgen]

By God, that guy is a prick. I mean really now--he's supposed to be a rational man, so why's he sticking his fingers in the entire school's pie? Would it have killed him to just tell a teacher somewhere, or just plain not do it? If it's the school's custom, who's he to say otherwise?

its called separation of church and state, if they want to pray they have a whole building dedicated to it called a church and they can take it there, religion tries to force its way into every little area of life it can and unless it is stopped it will

 

[Charli]

It's okay to pray in school. It is not, however, okay to require or organize prayers in school.

This, the school should not be actively participating in encouraging or discouraging a personal thing like that.

 

[DarkRyter]

I don't see what's the big deal. Kid seems like a whiny brat, gettin all upset because he's afraid of seeing other people talk to imaginary friends.

People should be allowed to pray whenever they wanna pray. And people should be allowed to not give a fuck when they want to not give a fuck.

It ain't the job of the law to give you freedom FROM shit. It's the job of the law to give you freedom TO shit.