Posted on 06/18/2010 9:01:47 PM PDT by lightman
Eastern York graduation speech sparks religion debate
The class president wasn't allowed to recite a 'prayer' poem during Eastern York High School's graduation ceremony.
By ANGIE MASON Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 06/18/2010 11:06:35 PM EDT
A graduation speech and what wasn't part of it has sparked discussion about religion and speech in the Eastern York School District community.
Aaron Mackley, Eastern high school's class of 2010 president, was told to remove a part of his speech hours before the ceremony, according to a school board official and a community member.
Mackley and his family could not be reached for comment Friday.
The student had wanted to read "A Graduate's Prayer" by Helen Steiner Rice, said Don Pullen, pastor at Valley View Alliance Church in Hellam Township. Mackley did as asked, Pullen said, but mentioned during the speech that he was asked not to read the poem.
Pullen said he, Mackley and others spoke about the issue at a Thursday school board meeting.
"My suggestion is the issue is not cut and dried and clear," Pullen said.
Doug Caldwell, president of the Eastern York School Board, said Friday that the decision about the speech was made by the administration, not the board, on the advice of legal counsel. Several court cases indicated it would be unconstitutional for the district to condone what Mackley wanted to do, he said.
"The school board's position is we did what we were required to do to be compliant with law," he said.
The Eastern York superintendent, high school principal and solicitor could not be reached for comment Friday.
Sara Rose, attorney with the ACLU Pennsylvania, said she thinks the solicitor "was absolutely correct" and "may have saved the Advertisement district from a lawsuit."
The Supreme Court has made it clear that school-sponsored prayer at school-sponsored events is unconstitutional, she said. If a district reviews a speech before an event, it must ensure the speech doesn't contain any sort of prayer "or even any kind of religious language," she said.
Pullen said there is no specific law that says prayer isn't allowed at graduation, just court opinions dealing with the issues of freedom of speech and establishment of religion.
His hope is the school board will take up the issue for more discussion. The school should have a policy on the subject, reflecting the community's opinion, he said.
"My guess is students need to be told one way or the other that saying a prayer or including prayer in a graduation speech is appropriate or inappropriate," he said.
Caldwell said the school board could look into different policies to alleviate the situation from happening again.
amason@ydr.com; 771-2048
Online
# For more information on graduation and prayer, visit the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life at www.pewforum.org and search for "graduation."
# For U.S. Department of Education guidelines on the subject, visit ed.gov and search for "Prayer at Graduation."
The other newspaper's account is found at www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2537750/posts
The other paper printed the bland, non-sectarian Helen Steiner Rice poem:
Father I have knowledge,
So will you show me now
How to use it wisely
And find a way somehow
To make the world I live in
A little better place,
And make life with its problems
A bit easier to face?
Grant me faith and courage
And put purpose in my days
And show me how to serve Thee
In the most effective ways
So all my education
My knowledge and my skill
May find their true fulfillment
As I learn to do Thy will.
And may I ever be aware
in everything I do
that knowledge comes from learning
and wisdom comes from you.
- Helen Steiner Rice
Class President Mackley has a "real pair" because during his speech--unscripted--he told the audience that he had been censored, why he had been censored, and that his family and friends would be handing out copies of the controversial poem after the ceremony!
Ping.
An admirable young man. May God bless him and his family.
**May God bless him and his family.**
Maybe we could get him to run for Congress??? He might not last long there, but it would be Entertaining.
Using the ACLU’s logic — How can the President (yes, even Obama) get away with saying “God Bless America” while giving a speech in the Oval office? — while short “God Bless America” is still a prayer.
At least we’d know he had principles, which is more than we can say about most congress critters.
Eastern York School District is in “deep red” flyover country, 19th Congressional District. 5 term Congressman is a practicing Christian.
Two of the small towns in this District still have Memorial Day parades...”Okie from Muskogee” ethos.
Another interesting aspect of this liberal school board in a conservative area is the decision made earlier this year regarding a new five-year contract for the superintendent of the school district.
She was given an eight percent hike in pay for the first year of the contract starting July 1st. That will take her from 148-thousand to 160-thousand per year. Each year after she gets a five percent hike that will take her pay to well over 190-thousand by the end of the contract.
A board that does that in times like these is as liberal as it can be.
Wonder how the powers that be would have reacted to a mohammaden preaching jihad against the Infidels?
YES!!!! My commendations to Class President Mackley!!
He did what I would have done in the same situation.
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