This strikes me as theologically incoherent as well as constitutionally troubling (though more in terms of constitutional morality rather than law.)
First, the students (as approved by Prof. Duncan) are using prayer not as a religious devotion but as a political act -- to express their disapproval of the one student and the "unelected judiciary" and as a weapon against others that don't share in that faith. That strikes me as sacralege as well as a perversion.
Second, why is it necessary to make these prayers public in a public forum? This sounds a little too much like the hypocrites of Mt. 6:5 If it is a matter of needing community, why not a community made up of fellow believers rather than demanding the audience of those who might not believe (or believe as they do)?
While it may be "their" commencement, it is also the commencement of all of the other students and their families present. Should everyone be allowed to interrupt the service and impose their religious exhortation on everyone else?
Graduations frequently involve not just commencement, but a series of celebrations over the course of the weekend. Why not reserve religious celebrations for a separate ceremony shared among their community of faith? The only justification I can come up with is the belief that their faith is so weak that it must be endorsed by the school in the public ceremony.
I find the whole thing offensive and sad.
David
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 12:50:19 -0700From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]To: religionlaw@lists.ucla.eduSubject: Re: Teenagers The Spirit of Liberty
Here is the way I look at it. "One poor kid" tried to censor his classmates with the help of a powerful legal ally, the ACLU.
His classmates did not like being silenced by the "poor kid." So they made a stand--not to ostracize the poor kid, but to stand up for their liberty of religious _expression_ at their own commencement. They did not violate the spirit of the EC. The spirit of the EC deals with government coercionand religion. The true spirit of the Religion Clause is on the side of the students who would not be cowed and silenced by the ACLU and the unelected judiciary.
I am proud of these kids. I hope their spirit spreads to many other schools and impacts many other commencements. There is no need to ask school officialsto sponsor prayer. All students need to do is pray: without asking for endorsement or permission from government authorities.
Cheers, Rick Duncan[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Some info from the involved ACLU affiliate isat this link:
http://www.aclu-ky.org/news.html#Grad%20Prayer
That info includes the following paragraph:
"School-sponsored prayer constitutes a symbolic and tangible ‘preference… given by law’ to a religious sect by exalting it over contrary religious beliefs deemed less worthy of government endorsement,� the ACLU argues in the court papers. “It compels attendance at a place of worship by conditioning participation at public graduation ceremonies on acceptance of prayer at those ceremonies.�
I don't see how having a student body election for "graduation chaplain" as I saw described in this Kentucky case cures the problem post Lee and Santa Fe. I don't know why anyone would cheer the ostracism of some poor kid at his own high school graduation. With all due respect to Prof. Duncan, that doesn't sound like "religious liberty" to me.
Allen Asch
In a message dated 5/23/2006 10:14:01 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
For a somewhat different take on this, see my Religion Clause blog post titled “Looking for Establishment Clause Loopholes� at
http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2006/05/commentary-looking-for-establishment.html
*Howard M. Friedman Disting. Univ. ProfessorEmeritusUniversity of Toledo College of LawToledo, OH 43606-3390 Phone: (419) 530-2911, FAX (419) 530-4732 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rick DuncanSent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 12:04 PMTo: Law Religion issues for Law AcademicsSubject: Teenagers The Spirit of Liberty
Link(See also link)
Excerpt from the second link):
High School Students Defy ACLU and Court
May 20, 2006 01:43 PM EST
By Sher Zieve – Despite U.S. District Judge Joseph McKinley’s ruling that no prayer was to be allowed at Kentucky’s Russell County High School commencement ceremonies, at least 200 students recited the Lord’s Prayer during the ceremony. The ACLU had argued to have prayer banned at graduation, due to a complaint from 1 student.
Thunderous applause is said to have broken out towards the end of the prayer and senior Megan Chapman continued with her praise, when she said that her fellow students should trust God as they continue their lives after high school.Chapman commented "It [the prayer] made the whole senio
