 |
October, 2000
Reclaiming American Schools for God Have you noticed a recent resurgence of Christian activity in America's schools? I sure have... and thankfully so. We have been praying for our schools, and God has heard those prayers and is responding by stirring up believers to take action in every part of America. The two news articles below are just an example of how taking an active stand can change things even in the face of Supreme Court rulings which undermine the very fabric and intent of the Constitution. Public school administrators and teachers are taking a stand and I am pleased to hear it. Parents and patrons are taking a stand and I am proud of each one. Students are taking a stand and that is perhaps the most heartening of all. "Meet Me at the Pole" observances held throughout the nation have been a stunning success and make a clear statement that America's young believers are not ashamed of their faith, but are anxious to proclaim it publicly. We must continue in prayer for schools, for educators and for government officials, and we ourselves must stand and be counted. If you have not already done so, visit the schools in your area and let the staff know your position on school prayer, wholesome curriculum and true freedom of religion as intended by our nation's founders. Also, write your elected officials - from the local school board, to leaders in Washington, D.C. and make your voice heard. Our nation's schools desperately need your help... so that all children, not just those who are home schooled or sent to private schools, will receive a quality education which is not in violation of the values and morals set forth by our Constitution and our God. Without you, the present momentum towards decency may slow and fail.
Pre-game
Prayers Proceed Despite Ruling HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- It started slowly at first, a few students holding hands in the bleachers and saying "Our Father who art in Heaven" while football players gathered on the North Forrest High School field Friday night. But by the time they got to "deliver us from evil," most of the crowd of 4,500 was standing, proudly reciting the Lord's Prayer, insisting that God cannot be removed even from a Class 4-A high school football game. School officials carefully stayed out of the way in order not to violate a June decision of the U.S. Supreme Court prohibiting student-led prayer at games and assemblies sanctioned by the school. Handbills had been distributed by a Christian ministry active in southern Mississippi urging people to pray just before the game, but no loudspeaker was used, and there was no official leader. "Just because the government shut down the prayers on the intercom doesn't mean they can stop us from praying silently or just starting a prayer, just by leading it by someone anonymously," said Savannah Spencer, an eighth-grade clarinet player who prayed with most of the school band. "Our band teachers and drum majors said we can stand up if we wanted to." The scene was repeated, with various levels of participation, at scores of high school football games across the South on Friday, and is likely to grow as word spreads. Throughout the region, where the line between religion and high school football has never been particularly well-marked, grass-roots efforts are under way to restore prayer to its traditional position just before the kickoff. The court's decision, in a case involving the Santa Fe, Texas, School Board, was widely denounced in many Christian pulpits across the South as the last straw in the court's recent decisions on religion in public life. All summer, a loosely knit coalition of conservative organizations and religious denominations have worked on ways to legally maintain prayer at student gatherings, and the solution was displayed Friday night: a planned recitation of the Lord's Prayer, immediately after the national anthem, by students and parents who have not sought permission from the school to do so. "As long as the school isn't involved, the students and the fans can get up and say whatever they want," said Paul Ott, a popular outdoor-sports broadcaster in southern Mississippi who has been using his radio show to spread the word about the prayer. "We are not going to let them take God any further away from our country. People all over are standing up and saying the Lord's Prayer to protect their religious liberty." The movement is catching on from Texas to the Carolinas. In Asheville, N.C., last week, more than 25,000 people gathered at a high school football stadium for a rally sponsored by a new group called "We Still Pray," which is promoting the recitation of the Lord's Prayer. Scattered groups of people said the prayer at dozens of games in western North Carolina on Friday night. An organization called "No Pray, No Play" is advocating the same idea in Texas, and has been supported by pastors around the state who are organizing prayers for this week's games. In Forest City, N.C., a radio station is allowing a pastor to say a prayer at the beginning of high school football broadcasts, and is urging fans at the game to turn up their radios during the prayer. The American Family Association, a conservative Christian organization led by the Rev. Donald Wildmon, is promoting prayer at football games on its widely heard radio shows. In most cases, church organizers are trying to stay within the court ruling by bypassing the school administration. In its 6-3 decision, the court said that impermissible school involvement included the use of the stadium public-address system, a speaker representing students, any direct supervision or approval by the faculty, or any policy that explicitly or implicitly encourages prayer. But some districts are going further. In Batesburg-Leesville, S.C., on Friday, the student body president said a prayer over the public address system before a football game. The School Board in Searcy, Ark., voted to let a Christian group hold prayers around a school flag pole before games. The American Civil Liberties Union branch in South Carolina says it will go to court to stop the practice in Batesburg-Leesville. But Steven Shapiro, the national legal director of the ACLU in New York, said he was not sure what to make of the students who are saying the Lord's Prayer on their own. If the school is genuinely uninvolved, it might constitute protected free speech, he said, though he is concerned about its presence at a school event. "It's a complicated legal question, but one of the things we have learned over years is that school officials are rarely uninvolved at their own events, rarely passive observers," he said. "School officials don't like to relinquish control." The organization's response will depend on the facts surrounding a district's involvement, he said. Walter Dellinger, a constitutional scholar at Duke University Law School and former solicitor general of the United States, said prayer could pass muster only if it was truly private and independent of school authority, at which point it would be considered protected free speech. "It strikes me as unfortunate that football games can be used as occasions for prayer, the effect of which is to make some students feel like religious strangers at their own public schools," he said. "But as long as it is a product of private decisions by individuals or groups, it doesn't violate the Constitution." At two high schools in Hattiesburg, the school principals said they had both been informed beforehand by organizers that the prayer would be said, but took no action. At a game not far from North Forrest at Hattiesburg High School, just a few students and parents rose to pray. "It's going to take a while to catch on, like anything else, but I think it's going to grow pretty big," said John Simpson, the principal of Hattiesburg High School, who prayed. "Most of the students and parents support this -- they think the Supreme Court went too far. I would love to be in the middle of it, but I'm not going to violate the law. So I'm glad the kids are doing it." Not everyone was pleased by the nature of the prayer, however. Matthew Krell, who is Jewish and is a drum major in the band at Hattiesburg High, said he wished the organizers had not chosen such a well-known Christian prayer. "I'm not against prayer, but it shouldn't be one specific to a single religion," he said. "If they ever really got organized, I guess I'd just have to say the Sabbath prayer -- it's Friday night, you know."
Render Unto Caesar — But Pray By Jody Brown
LETSFINDOUT KIDS' ENCYCLOPEDIA
Graphics, Design
& Hosting by Web4Christ Ministries Home | Webzine | Search the Site | Archives
| Resources Author: Iona Hoeppner |
Just A Thought
