The American Civil Liberties Union may think it can control public school bureaucrats, but rebellious teenagers are another story. Lifesitenews.com reported that the “prayerful protest” happened as a result of a lawsuit the ACLU filed against the Santa Rosa County School District.
The suit was filed on behalf of two students at Pace High School who claimed their teachers were promoting personal religious views. In one instance cited, Principal Frank Lay asked the the athletic director to bless a meal during an event at the school. In another instance, school teacher Michelle Winkler’s husband, who is not a school board employee, offered prayer at an awards ceremony.
Lifesitenews explains,
“According to the ACLU lawsuit, graduation ceremonies during the past five years at Central, Jay, Milton, Navarre and Pace High Schools in the Santa Rosa District have included prayers by students – often members of groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or the Christian World Order. The graduation ceremonies at Santa Rosa Adult School and Santa Rosa Learning Academy also have included prayers.
Leading up to the graduation ceremony, the ACLU demanded that Pace High School censor students from offering prayers or saying anything religious. In the end, members of the student body were not permitted to speak at the graduation.”
Watch video of prayer protest at Pace High School
ACLU attorney Benjamin Stevenson told told the local Florida ABC affiliate in the area,
“Our feeling is that it’s regrettable that the students took over the ceremony to impose their religious views on the audience who may not have shared the same religious views. School officials have a responsibility to protect the silently held religious views of others.”
This statement is amusing coming from an ACLU representative. The ACLU has been responsible for challenging laws that would require public schools to to establish one minute at the beginning of the school day for silent meditation, prayer, or personal beliefs. The ACLU may have been successful in squelching government mandated religious moments from American public schools, but they have yet to figure out how to control the impulsive American teenager.
