atheistdave

Just recieved a call from my son who is a senior in the local high school. It seems there is a rumor going around about a parent writing a letter to the school requesting the graduation prayer be deleted for the ceremony. Many of my son's classmates who are well aquainted with us, naturally assumed it was I who wrote the letter. I told my son the truth, it was not me, but I support the writer. Student led I can deal with, school endorsed via a local member of clergy no f*cking way. I will wait a few days before I write the school my letter of support.


Dave

Splat

Why not ask for equal time for a humanist "prayer?" (What would that be called, anyway?)

dangin

A call to reason.

atheist_in_foxhole

Call the ACLU. Unless the school wants a lengthy legal battle, they'll back down. And the ACLU will keep your identity a secret if that's what you wish.

gsx1138

Stop the persecution of Christians!! If you devils keep up with this I'll have to drive 10 blocks instead of 5 to worship Jebus. Too bad I don't have a kid in that school I'd have to support the anonymous writer as well.

openeyes

Although my son's high school has doesn't have a prayer at the graduation ceremony (though the band was playing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" in the background), I found out last year by attending the PTA meetings that basically the choir teacher and the principal organize the baccalaureate ceremony (it's a religious graduation ceremony for those of you unfamiliar with the event). The principal was so proud that our high school still had a strong tradition as compare to some of the neighboring schools that "left it up to the churches" and didn't have much cohesion. I said, but isn't that the way it's suppose to be-the churches organize, not the school? He backed off a little and said it was really student run so it's ok. I brought it up again at the next meeting; I didn't get much support from the other parents (only about 10 people attend). Since I've been a PTA attender for years (held a number of offices) and on an aquaintance basis with the superintendent, I made an appointment with him to discuss. He said he look into it--seemed to understand my point of view and validate it--so I'm giving him some time to work something out. (Told him he could always use the ACLU for reference if needed.) He said no one has ever mentioned it before. (I live in a first-ring suburb of the Twin Cities, and part of the school area includes one of the U of M campuses. Think there'd be more than just me with a concern!)

A few weeks ago I attended the football award banquet and was subjected to a xian invocation. The same thing happened at the basketball banquet last year. I emailed the head coach. Told him, among other things, that no one asked my religious affiliation when I worked at the concession stand and sold "gold cards" to raise money for the program. He once again said he'd didn't really notice and no one had complained, but he saw my point, didn't mean to offend, and would have the invocation dropped. I forwarded my email to the superintendent who said he'd direct all the sports programs to drop the invocation from their banquets. So far, I haven't heard of any negative response (no banquets have occured), but I know I'm correct on this point and will prevail. Many of the parents know "I'm not very religious" but I haven't really come out to them with the "A" word, though I'm becoming much more out-spoken. (It helps that I seem the type who'd be a church-goer and my kids are both excellent students. I just got complimented the other day (again) on the coachability and hard work of my older son. Think that coach is pretty xian too. My kids, like me, are non-believers.)

atheistdave

I recieved a note from my son today. It seems that the school hypocrites did not like his Ozzy T-shirt. The one with Ozzy holding a Hell sign with his thumb stuck out, hitchiking to Hell.

There was a big dissagreement and finally my son had to put his jacket on over the shirt or be expelled.

I have now had some not so kind words with the principal. I tried to be nice, but she would not debate and talked a mile a minute as I tried to get in a word. I have now called the Superintendant of the system, who I have known a long time and respect, to figure out which way I will pursue the issue. Either through him or the school board.

One thing for sure, they have just raised the ante in the graduation prayer battle and other prayers before school events. They want to play, we can play

GaryP

Hey Dave and openeyes. That's great! More people need to express concerns and let authorities know that we expect public schools to play by the rules.

Both of your stories remind me of battles here in my district. The deal with prayer before sports banquets has not been adequately worked out to my satisfaction. The person I communicate with at Americans United always wants to know if student attendance is mandatory at these things. I'm sure it is, but the administratiors will never acknowledge my queries.

Keep up the good fight!

openeyes

I'm sure attendence isn't mandatory at the sports banquets, but as one of the main points of sports is the "team" concept, one would like to be able to comfortably attend if part of that team, irregardless of religious affiliation (or lack thereof). Since the basis for that team is the public school (and as I mentioned, the program was perfectly willing to accept my help to raise money without checking on my religious credentials), it seems to me that religious observance should be kept private. In my email, I said I didn't have a problem with people praying out loud as long as it wasn't a part of the formal program or led by a representative of the school. It'll be interesting to see what happens at the next banquet (I know some of the parents of the current basketball booster club quite well) or if anyone involved with the other sport programs will have a problem with the superintendent's directive.

Those xians just don't seem to see how arrogant they are with their assumptions that everyone thinks as they do, or that they have all the answers (despite empirical evidence), do they?

gsx1138

You guys are depressing me. My daughter isn't old enough to be in school yet but is this the kind of crap I'm going to have to deal with?