http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,539741,00.html

Even though this was from Fox News, I think that your opinions should be shared. What next, an Islamic Teacher praying at his time of day when praying then sent to jail?

Taking the Fox (and the Washington Post) stories at face value, the teachers are clearly in the wrong. Leading specifically denominational (ie Christian) prayers should not be done given that a court settlement was jointly agreed to by the school, the court, and the plaintiff prohibiting such behavior.

If the school administration did not believe in the out of court settlement, then they should not have agreed to it, and they should have pursued their case through the justice system.

My guess is that the criminal charges will be "contempt of court" or some such charge.

So on the face of this, I have no problem with what's happening to the guy who is preaching.  He was not following "the rule of law".

That is one lousy court settlement.

I would say something like this is unconstitutional.

even as an atheist i think this case (at face value) is fudgeing retarded. Also, from the full article:

"Mr. Staver said the district also agreed to forbid senior class President Mary Allen from speaking at the school's May 30 graduation ceremony on the chance that the young woman, a known Christian, might say something religious."

wtf? banned for something she might say? What's next - locking up people who might commit crimes?

As much as I'd like to see religion separated from school and government, this is going too far in the other direction. While I was sometimes forced to participate in things I didn't believe in, I still could express my own views. Which brings me to:


I would say something like this is unconstitutional.


Yahtzee!  Having to put up with differing views and crap everyday is part of life. Being silenced or censored (censured?) because of what you have said, or what you might say, squarely flies in the face of the 1st amendment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The possibility that someone may go to jail for praying is even scarier than a Christian dominated culture. You know the ACLU has royally effed up when they'll get an atheist to publicly defend praying in school.

I could type for another forty minutes, but these two minutes of video more or less sum up what I'm thinking, so:

2:08-4:00(NSFW)

/Rant off

even as an atheist i think this case (at face value) is fudging retarded. Also, from the full article:

"Mr. Staver said the district also agreed to forbid senior class President Mary Allen from speaking at the school's May 30 graduation ceremony on the chance that the young woman, a known Christian, might say something religious."

wtf? banned for something she might say? What's next - locking up people who might commit crimes?

As much as I'd like to see religion separated from school and government, this is going too far in the other direction. While I was sometimes forced to participate in things I didn't believe in, I still could express my own views. Which brings me to:

Yahtzee!   Having to put up with differing views and crap everyday is part of life. Being silenced or censored (censured?) because of what you have said, or what you might say, squarely flies in the face of the 1st amendment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The possibility that someone may go to jail for praying is even scarier than a Christian dominated culture. You know the ACLU has royally effed up when they'll get an atheist to publicly defend praying in school.

I could type for another forty minutes, but these two minutes of video more or less sum up what I'm thinking, so:

2:08-4:00(NSFW)

/Rant off


Oh... I missed the part about the class president.  Yeah, that's unconstitutional and that part of the agreement would never hold up in an appeals court, for sure.

However... back to the teachers/administration... there is a difference between saying a personal prayer (such as right before a meal), and conducting a prayer where the rest of the group is an audience.  This is well-settled law in the United States; saying a "denominational" type prayer has been pretty much out of bounds since madelyn Murray O'Hair.

George Carlan is terrific.

Wow......

If Jesus was around, he would not too thrilled....

::)

I like the moment of silence idea, that way no one gets offended.

Wow......

If Jesus was around, he would not too thrilled....

::)

I like the moment of silence idea, that way no one gets offended.


Except those who can't shut up!  :D

Except those who can't shut up!  :D


That reminds me of that scene from "Major League" where the teams are praying and the Cuban player is praying to his god and sets off the sprinklers. ;D