Despite court order, students pray

Charleston Gazette Online ^ | Friday May 31, 2002 | Eric Eyre

[connectthedots]

He has a future as a federal beaurocrat.

Or a federal bureaucrat.

[connectthedots]

These things hardly ever work out the way the anti-Christian thugs want.

[xrp]

While I applaud the students and parents for their act of defiance to give thanks to the Lord, there is one thing disturbing in this article:

Students criticized the judge’s decision. “It’s democracy. It needs to be that majority rules,” said Justin Waybright, who graduated Thursday night.

Majority rule is very dangerous. Majority rule is mob rule. Majority rule could be 10 people, 9 of them Ku Klux Klan members and 1 black man voting on who is to be hanged. Let's hope this student comes to realise this and that the United States is a Republic based on LAW and not a "democracy", which is tyranny of the masses.

[3catsanadog]

Oh the horror! Round up these praying kids and send them to sensitivity and tolerance seminars.

And the doofus who whined about the praying didn't attend anyway. Coward.

Bravo, bravo to the kids at St. Albans!

[lepton]

Hmmmm. In a place called "St. Albans".

[JediGirl]

bump for later reading

[LarryLied]

Andrew Schneider was behind this lawsuit against prayer. While he doesn't like religion mentioned in a school setting, he defends other speech:

Tinker Days to focus on freedom of speech

By Christina McGough and Jessica Karmasek
Staff Writer
The Daily Athenaeum

In 1969, John Tinker, high school student, took his case on free speech in time of war all the way to the Supreme Court and won. Now, over thirty years later, southern West Virginia student Katie Sierra, 15, has had to leave her school over the same issue.

To educate others on the first amendment, Tinker and Sierra, along with Andrew Schneider, executive director of the West Virginia ACLU, have created Tinker Days. Tinker Days consists of traveling to various schools in West Virginia to share their stories and provide inspiration for students to take a stand. They visited West Virginia University Wednesday night to do just that.

Sierra, studying anarchism for the past year and a half, has always known that she was passionate about world peace without the use of military force, despite the lack of support from her peers. “It’s important to stand up for what you believe in. It just feels like the right thing to do,” Sierra said.

Sierra began her fight for free expression by wearing anti-war T-shirts to school. She was suspended and upon her return, fellow students assaulted her. The school did not pursue any punishment for the attackers’ actions. This will be part of Sierra’s case in the summer to contest the school’s decision of not allowing her to express her views.

Supporting her will be John Tinker. He was expelled from school during the Vietnam War for wearing black wristbands to protest the war. After winning his case, Tinker continues to speak out against the killing of innocent people.

“I’m opposed to Sept. 11, but I’m also opposed to how we’ve dealt with it. We haven’t dealt with it,” Tinker said.

Tinker also expressed his feelings on the West Virginia University free speech zone.

“I thought that the free speech zone was bound with the borders of Mexico and Canada,” he said.

Both activists agreed that America is about the free exchange of ideas, and the American flag needs to represent freedom. In closing, Mary Bess, president of WVU ACLU, stated the organization’s slogan: “We all have the right not to remain silent.”

[RJL]

Majority rule is very dangerous.

While I understand your concern... is minority rule over the majority better?

[chiefqc]

All I can add is:

HONK, HONK, HONK

[Alouette]

I would suspect a combination of hypocricy and cowardice.

Au contraire, the liberals would probably invite a Muslim student to lead the class in reciting verses from the Quran. BTW did you know that merely repeating the Shihada "There is no hog but allah, etc." even if tricked into it, YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY A CONVERT TO ISLAM and subject to the death penalty under Sha'aria law as an apostate if you continue to observe your normal religion?

[Windsong]

"The people rule"

ONLY so long as the People have guns, which keep them in check. The day we don't, is the day we cease being a Republic and begin being a dictatorship.

[Some hope remaining.]

Oh the horror! Round up these praying kids and send them to sensitivity and tolerance seminars.

Or just throw them in the lions den...

[Windsong]

You know, I'll just BET that this is how the Civil War started in Heaven, with a few loud mouths (Lucifer, Beelzebub, etc) inciting riots. Its not enough to be in Paradise (or the Land of the Free, the Most Powerful Nation on Earth). They have to Lord over it ALL.

[jwalsh07]

“The public interest weighs in favor of protecting a student’s First Amendment right to be free from the unwanted intrusion of religion at a school-sponsored graduation,” Copenhaver wrote in the 14-page opinion.

There is no such "right" in the Constitution. There is a right to freely "exercise" your religion in the public square.

The judge is contemptible and the students are to be admired and applauded. The students are free to pray in school any time they want absent a disruption of class and direction by school officials.

[TheBattman]

This all begs some questions.....

Why would anyone live/send their kids to school where the majority of people have very different views and beliefs than you have?

For example - I feel very strongly about my Christian beliefs, as well as my love of this country and the imprtance of the Constitution - so why in the world would I ever move to California? Although a generalization, the state of California represents, to me, a complete anti- of what I believe.

If the athiest who brought this suit is uncomfortable with prayer, then move to one of the several athiest bastillions out there. Don't interfere with the beliefs of the vast majority.......

[Politicalmom]

Hmmmm....she didn't like being attacked? Sounds like anarchy to me. Maybe she better rethink her oh-so-well-informed beliefs. : )

[inquest]

I just want to say that I want to see this attitude of defiance spill over into other areas of federal usurpation. Gentle persuasion is just not going to do the job.

[LarryLied]

75% of the troops fighting the war on terror describe themselves as Protestant or Catholic. 24% say they are not affiliated with any religion. Less than 1% are Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or other. Pretty arrogant to suggest Christians not be allow to pray in America where ever and when ever they want, isn't it? Wonder what these intolerant bigots would say if those Christian troops said the hell with it.

[Hacksaw]

bttt