Post by Josh Parsley on May 24, 2006 13:20:53 GMT -5
Judge: No prayer at graduation
BUT STUDENT DELIVERS RELIGIOUS REMARKS ANYWAY, DRAWING LOUD APPLAUSE
By Bill Estep
SOUTH-CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
RUSSELL SPRINGS - A federal judge barred prayer during a Russell County High School graduation ceremony last night but it included a religious message nonetheless. Megan Chapman made sure of that.
Chapman, chosen by fellow seniors to deliver opening remarks, had planned to include a prayer as had been the practice at commencement for decades. Instead, she talked of her faith and God's love.
"God will never leave you or forsake you," she said drawing a loud standing ovation from the 2,000-plus people packed into the gym.
Many in the conservative county did not agree with U.S. District Judge Judge Joseph McKinley's decision barring the prayer.
Mark Lawless, a Baptist minister in Russell Springs, and several members of his church stood at the entrance of the high school holding signs with religious messages. There are more than a 100 churches in the county, and religion is important to many people, he said, calling it a travesty that a minority view could override a majority view.
"They call it a free country (but) they're taking religion right out of the schools. I don't call that free," said Tom Crawford, who was holding a sign that said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God."
Anthony Padgett, whose daughter Misty was graduating, called the judge's ruling wrong.
"When they took prayer out of school and took the paddle out of school, that was the worse thing," he said.
Several students interrupted principal Darren Gossage early in the ceremony to recite a portion of the Lord's Prayer, an act the crowd cheered.
But barring a graduation prayer didn't bother everybody.
James E. McClure said including a prayer would break the rules on separation of church and state.
"We've got freedom of religion and freedom from it," the military veteran said.
McKinley granted a temporary restraining order yesterday barring a prayer at the school's commencement.
School officials strongly disagreed with the decision but didn't have time yesterday to attempt to overturn it before the ceremony, said attorney Michael Owsley of Bowling Green, who represented Gossage. McKinley's ruling came in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a student identified only as John Doe.
The student argued that including prayer at graduation would constitute an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. A school-sponsored prayer would be offensive to him, tarnish his enjoyment of the event and violate his rights, the student claimed.
"My high-school graduation is a very important event for me and I want to attend my graduation without having to compromise my Constitutional rights," he said in an affidavit.
The teen asked to remain anonymous, saying he feared retaliation if his identity became public. He said he has been threatened in the past for expressing his views about religion, including having a cross burned in his yard.
Gabe McNeil, one of 189 seniors, said that during a rehearsal Thursday other students booed the student suspected of filing the challenge when he walked across the stage. He was not booed during the ceremony.
McKinley granted an order protecting the student's identity. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky filed the lawsuit for the student.
The lawsuit against Gossage said the student had asked him to remove prayer from the commencement, but he refused. Gossage said in a response that he'd received no such request.
Attorneys for Gossage argued that the school's graduation ceremony would not be an improper endorsement of religion because students, not school officials, chose whether to have one of their own make commencement remarks.
School officials had no influence in that decision and no input into what the speaker would say, Gossage said.
However, the student who filed the suit said it had been the practice for years for students to elect a student chaplain to deliver a prayer at graduation.
Owsley said Russell County High School felt its policy of letting students decide fell within rules OK'd in a federal appeals case. That case was not in the circuit that includes Kentucky.
But Lili Lutgens, an attorney for the ACLU, said there was ample indication the prayer was school-sponsored.
Owsley and Lutgens said it's not clear whether either side will pursue the lawsuit. The student got what he sought, rendering the lawsuit moot. But there could be some interest in continuing the court action in order to establish precedent in the judicial circuit that includes Kentucky.
Lutgens said the lawsuit is not an attack on Christianity, but rather an effort to preserve "government-free religion." When government sanctions certain religious credos or tells people when, where and how to pray, that erodes religious freedom, Lutgens said.
"We need to make sure that no government official ever tells us how to practice our religion," she said.
BUT STUDENT DELIVERS RELIGIOUS REMARKS ANYWAY, DRAWING LOUD APPLAUSE
By Bill Estep
SOUTH-CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
RUSSELL SPRINGS - A federal judge barred prayer during a Russell County High School graduation ceremony last night but it included a religious message nonetheless. Megan Chapman made sure of that.
Chapman, chosen by fellow seniors to deliver opening remarks, had planned to include a prayer as had been the practice at commencement for decades. Instead, she talked of her faith and God's love.
"God will never leave you or forsake you," she said drawing a loud standing ovation from the 2,000-plus people packed into the gym.
Many in the conservative county did not agree with U.S. District Judge Judge Joseph McKinley's decision barring the prayer.
Mark Lawless, a Baptist minister in Russell Springs, and several members of his church stood at the entrance of the high school holding signs with religious messages. There are more than a 100 churches in the county, and religion is important to many people, he said, calling it a travesty that a minority view could override a majority view.
"They call it a free country (but) they're taking religion right out of the schools. I don't call that free," said Tom Crawford, who was holding a sign that said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God."
Anthony Padgett, whose daughter Misty was graduating, called the judge's ruling wrong.
"When they took prayer out of school and took the paddle out of school, that was the worse thing," he said.
Several students interrupted principal Darren Gossage early in the ceremony to recite a portion of the Lord's Prayer, an act the crowd cheered.
But barring a graduation prayer didn't bother everybody.
James E. McClure said including a prayer would break the rules on separation of church and state.
"We've got freedom of religion and freedom from it," the military veteran said.
McKinley granted a temporary restraining order yesterday barring a prayer at the school's commencement.
School officials strongly disagreed with the decision but didn't have time yesterday to attempt to overturn it before the ceremony, said attorney Michael Owsley of Bowling Green, who represented Gossage. McKinley's ruling came in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a student identified only as John Doe.
The student argued that including prayer at graduation would constitute an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. A school-sponsored prayer would be offensive to him, tarnish his enjoyment of the event and violate his rights, the student claimed.
"My high-school graduation is a very important event for me and I want to attend my graduation without having to compromise my Constitutional rights," he said in an affidavit.
The teen asked to remain anonymous, saying he feared retaliation if his identity became public. He said he has been threatened in the past for expressing his views about religion, including having a cross burned in his yard.
Gabe McNeil, one of 189 seniors, said that during a rehearsal Thursday other students booed the student suspected of filing the challenge when he walked across the stage. He was not booed during the ceremony.
McKinley granted an order protecting the student's identity. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky filed the lawsuit for the student.
The lawsuit against Gossage said the student had asked him to remove prayer from the commencement, but he refused. Gossage said in a response that he'd received no such request.
Attorneys for Gossage argued that the school's graduation ceremony would not be an improper endorsement of religion because students, not school officials, chose whether to have one of their own make commencement remarks.
School officials had no influence in that decision and no input into what the speaker would say, Gossage said.
However, the student who filed the suit said it had been the practice for years for students to elect a student chaplain to deliver a prayer at graduation.
Owsley said Russell County High School felt its policy of letting students decide fell within rules OK'd in a federal appeals case. That case was not in the circuit that includes Kentucky.
But Lili Lutgens, an attorney for the ACLU, said there was ample indication the prayer was school-sponsored.
Owsley and Lutgens said it's not clear whether either side will pursue the lawsuit. The student got what he sought, rendering the lawsuit moot. But there could be some interest in continuing the court action in order to establish precedent in the judicial circuit that includes Kentucky.
Lutgens said the lawsuit is not an attack on Christianity, but rather an effort to preserve "government-free religion." When government sanctions certain religious credos or tells people when, where and how to pray, that erodes religious freedom, Lutgens said.
"We need to make sure that no government official ever tells us how to practice our religion," she said.