Couple of links for you to peruse before we get started.
Now before you get started, Yes I know both articles essentially say the same thing. Brave Boy defies evil school and stands up for Christianity by reciting the Lord's Prayer. Oorah and pass the Communion Wine! If you search the Interwebz, you will literally find hundreds of websites/blogs praising this boy and the courageous stand he took. Jesus and Christians have been saved from an Ignoble death! All is Hooplah!
In all honesty I have absolutely no trouble with what the lad did. He perceived a wrong and did what he felt was right to correct it or at least draw attention to it. I will point out here that despite what so many people like to claim, Christian Prayer or any sort of prayer has not been banned in schools anywhere in the US. Due to the separation of Church and State, Schools (Well non religious type schools anyways) are forbidden from leading prayers and other types of religious functions. No matter what a lot of people claim, this does not boil down to a War on Christianity. It is a matter of preventing Publicly funded organizations from forcing one set of religious beliefs on everyone. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Pastafarians all are still free to pray whenever they wish.
Course that is sort of the subject of this rant. I read all the blogs and comments where people cheer on a young boy who recites a Christian prayer in defiance of the rules and I wonder, what would have been the reaction if it had been a Prayer to Allah? How about a Prayer from the Torah? Suppose the Buddhist student had stood up and started doing his meditation chant? I am betting that the reactions from the vast majority of people would have been a lot different.
I am recollected of something that occurred not that long ago when several schools began teaching meditation techniques to their students to help them focus and be more productive. Oh there was such an uproar. Parents were outraged that a religion (See any religion but Christianity) was being taught in the schools. Funnily enough, they used the exact same arguments that a lot of Atheists use when talking about keeping religions out of school. They went on (and on and on and on..) about how it was wrong to teach kids a foreign religion and that this was A Christian Nation. (It is not, just so you know.) These were basically the same people who argued that Muslim children shouldn't be allowed to pray, but claimed that Christian Children should and that Schools should lead the prayers.
For a nation founded on the concept of Freedom of Religion, we are a remarkably intolerant nation when it comes to Other Religions. People seem to believe that Freedom of Religion basically means Freedom to Be Some Sort of Christian. Reactions have proven that time and time again.
So I am honestly curious what would have been the reaction had the Boy stood up and started reading passages from the Koran to defy the "anti-religion" rules. History, especially recent history seems to indicate that instead of being hailed as a hero, he would have probably been booed off stage and probably been thrown out of school. You can bet that the majority of internet posts would have been less than kind. Freedom of Religion and the Separation of Church and State are there for a reason. Everyone has the right to worship or not worship as they please without the beliefs of others being pressed upon them. In a very real sense, Freedom Of Religion can also be read as Freedom From Religion.
End of rant
I agree totally. Although I'm not convinced the kid didn't violate the Constitution as well. While it is true that kids, being neither the church nor the the state have a right to pray in school, they don't have the right to force someone else to listen to it. While a graduation is technically voluntary, people are expected to attend (and have a right to do so without having something shoved down their throat). Also, as valedictorian, he was chosen by the school to make a speech representing them. That's why the baccalaureates started having trouble. They were requiring students to attend a church service as part of the graduation events.
ReplyDeleteYou are wrong. The United States of America is a Christian Nation. The Founding Fathers put "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and on all of our money to show that. Everything that has gone wrong with this nation is because Foreigners come to it and force their ignorant believes onto real Americans. We need more people like this boy who aren't afraid to stand up to the idiots that want to force us to worship Allah instead of the true God of the Christians whose worship predates all of these false gods. You should stop Forcing your attitudes on other people and seek forgiveness from the God you have wronged.
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