The Right Time By Joe Murray: Fifth Circuit Revisits School Board Prayer
Case
http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=18082678&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=6
[excerpt]
By: Joe Murray, The Bulletin
03/15/2007
[snip]
About four years ago, the Tangipahoa Parish School Board got into some hot
water with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana when a
member of the Tangipahoa community complained to the left-leaning
organization about certain school board practices. Specifically, the
Tangipahoa Parish School Board had opened it deliberative sessions with a
prayer that asked for divine guidance, protection for the president and the
troops and assistance in the decision-making process.
The board's tradition of opening its meeting with a prayer dated back to
1973, and this prayer, which was not boilerplate, could be given by a board
member, school official, student, resident or minister. There was no
indication that the board ever prohibited a person from reciting a prayer
or would have been hostile to such an idea. The prayer was reflective of
the community
According to Edward White, a religious liberties attorney with the
Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), "the board meetings are open
to the public and student attendance is not compulsory." TMLC, while not
representing the Tangipahoa Parish in the case at bar, is following the
case and recently filed an amicus curie brief defending the parish's
tradition of prayer.
Nonetheless, the concerned citizen of Tangipahoa Parish, whose identity was
not available at the press time, objected to the prayer, contacted the ACLU
of Louisiana and then filed a John Doe lawsuit to have the prayer stricken
from the board meetings. The small parish was then thrust into a lawsuit to
defend a prayer that had been a part of the board meeting for over three
decades.
The case went to court and found its way before the Honorable Helen Ginger
Berrigan. Berrigan, who was nominated to the federal bench by Bill Clinton,
was the former head of the ACLU of Louisiana and ruled that the school
board's practice of opening its meeting with a prayer was unconstitutional.
Such a decision angered organizations such as TMLC, but was warmly received
by the ACLU. In its pleadings, the John Doe plaintiff, through his ACLU
attorneys, had argued that this lawsuit was an attempt to stop the
Christian indoctrination of children. Richard Thompson, president of TMLC,
challenged the ACLU's stated motive behind this lawsuit.
"The ACLU's claim that they are merely attempting to stop Christian
indoctrination of students is nonsense," stated Thompson in a press
release. "What they are attempting to do is promote their own brand of
religion - atheism or secular humanism."
The type of prayer that was struck down by Judge Berrigan is best reflected
by this invocation that was delivered at a February 2003 Tangipahoa Parish
School Board meeting: "Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings
we received. We thank you for our health. We thank you for our strength. We
thank you for our peace of mind. We thank you for allowing us to assemble
here tonight, and we ask that you give this board and our superintendent
all the wisdom and knowledge, and the understanding they need to make the
correct decision for our students and for our parents."
While the prayer asked for protection for the president and the troops, it
concluded by thanking God "for the greatest gift of all - your son, Jesus
Christ." According to White, such a prayer is not only constitutional, but
also commonly used by the U.S. House of Representatives.
[end excerpt]
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
.
|
