The American Civil Liberties Union said it sent a letter last week to voice a complaint that there was prayer at a recent awards ceremony at Franklinton High School for graduating seniors, and that prayer was planned for the upcoming commencement.
Read more at http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/may/29/franklin-co-schools-discuss-prayer-issue-ar-2316525/
They voted unanimously to not have the prayer.
funny to see the letter to the editor in today’s Daily Dispatch asking citizens to contact their representatives Crawford,Berger, and Wray in regards to the Govenor’s Budget that left off $$$ for the program that the writer of the letter is in charge of in Vance County. That borders on the line of asking citizens to contact representatives in order for the writer of the letter to keep his job. I wonder if other people who have lost jobs due to the messed up economy can call em’ and ask that they get $$$ to fund their positions. My question is why didn’t he sign his name and position and that if the $$ is cut that he would no longer be in charge of the TRU Program for Vance Co. Schools. Wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?
How can this be good (Franklin County situation)? What is your take on this Mr. Brand? People keep on letting things like this happen and you will wake up in a George Orwell state one day.
Well, does that mean that you think Scotland,England, France, Italy, Spain, Africa, China, and many more nations are Orwellian states? We have got to recognize that there are more than one religion in our country now. Regardless of how our nation was founded, because of its fundamental principle of freedoms of religion, we have to respect the religious convictions of other people. At the University of Emory, Atlanta, Ga. the University closed the service with six benedictions, six different religious leaders, ***, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and Native American all gave benedictions. A time of silence for all to remember and be grateful for those who made graduation possible might have been an option. But the exclusive, single, dominate presentation of Christian prayer at public meetings will slowly be disappearing. Actually, Christians are going to have to work harder at being Christians. Sunday School and Home will be where faith is presented. The school, the Malls, the City Park will no longer be places where the Christian story is told. But those conditions have made **** much more faithful. It has been the seed bed of the Muslin faith. Even Catholics have been made more faithful by being discriminated against in the South for a long time. On one level I think it is a good thing as I think it will make people take their faith posture much more seriously and think about it a great deal more.
Rick, I agree wholeheartedly. How can a Christian be faithful in any attempt to do unto others as he would have done to him, and then discriminate based on his/her or their beliefs. Everyone must respect that this country was founded on freedom, with religion being one of those.
Those countries are certainly Orwellian, as is America now. It is Freedom OF Religion not Freedom FROM Religion. As America turns away from the Christian principles that this country was founded on, we all witness the destruction to society and our communities every day. The church community used to be the place that people in need turned to, now it is the government that everyone has been trained to turn to solve their every problem and need. The ACLU is all about money and power.
It is clearly against the law for prayer to be formally held in school. If you feel that’s wrong, as tax payers, would you approve of the county hiring a bunch of lawyers to try to reverse the law, all the way up to the supreme court if necessary?
But the Freedom of Religion does not just apply to Christians. Buddhist, Hindu, Native Americans all have the same freedom to practice their religion. How would you like to hear prayers to Vishnu every meeting? How about a prayer to Allah in arabic at every City Council meeting? If you are a faithful Buddhist you would not want to have to participate in Christian practices, would you? The Freedom of Religion is that all religions are free to practice. Nobody is turning you away from your Christian faith, the message is that you need to practice it at home and in your church and live it every day/ The best witness to the Christian faith is how we love our enemies and care for those in need. So far I think we still have a lot to do before we can talk too loud.
I’ll kindly stand by my convictions thank you.
God is God, no matter what name different religions use. As a follower of Jesus’ teachings, I believe in the freedom of others to practice their faith as they want. Sadly, too many alleged Christians do not live by the teachings and example of Jesus. It is not church membership, attendance or public prayer that makes one a Christian. Only God can determine who is truly His, not by public show but by the content of their hearts. To me, even the so called athiests believe in God; otherwise they wouldn’t bother to deny His existence.