Federal Judge Prohibits Prayer at Texas Graduation Ceremony

[Jaysyn]

Federal Judge Prohibits Prayer at Texas Graduation Ceremony

The Texas attorney general called the ruling unconstitutional and a blatant attack from those who do not believe in God -- “attempts by atheists and agnostics to use courts to eliminate from the public landscape any and all references to God whatsoever.”

“This is the challenge we are dealing with here,” he said. “(It’s) an ongoing attempt to purge God from the public setting while at the same time demanding from the courts an increased yielding to all things atheist and agnostic.”

I, personally, do think the judge went way too far here:

Should a student violate the order, school district officials could find themselves in legal trouble. Judge Biery ordered that his ruling be “enforced by incarceration or other sanctions for contempt of Court if not obeyed by District official (sic) and their agents.”

Students aren't government employees & should not be held to this. This isn't separation of church & state, it is trampling on the 1st Amendment. I have a feeling this is going to turn into a huge fiasco.

[Minimalist]

“Part of this goes to the very heart of the unraveling of moral values in this country,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott

And once again we see that xtian assholes think their sky-daddy is a source of morality when in fact they have been murdering fucks ever since they got the power to do so. Nonetheless, I see no practical way that non-employees of the school district can be compelled to not be religious assholes. It is one thing to rule out the district from bringing in all sorts of Holy Joes to preach to the captive audience but quite another to tell a student or commencement speaker what the content of their speech may be. It is only the government ( or any subsidiary agency such as a school district ) which may not establish a preference for one religion over another. Private citizens are not bound by it.

Of course, it is a FOX news story so who knows what the real facts of the case are. You sure as shit aren't going to get them from FOX.

[Faith No More]

I agree that barring students from doing so violates the 1st amendment, but the hoopla over this is just another example of Christians interpreting the 'freedom of religion' clause to mean freedom to be whatever kind of Christian you want to be.

And once again we see that xtian assholes think their sky-daddy is a source of morality when in fact they have been murdering fucks ever since they got the power to do so.

Don't you know that without the fear of going to hell, we atheists have no morals, and that our only goal in life is the rid the world of these morals that would not exist without Christianity? Which reminds me that I have a baby baking in the oven and need to take it out. I don't want that tender meat to get to dried out.

[Minimalist]

Yeah - but when xtians fuck up they have a built in get out of hell free card because their sky-daddy pats them on the head and tells them that everything is just peachy keen.

No wonder they suck so much.

[Ace Otana]

Is it me or are these people hell bent on sending the community, even the whole country back to a time where any lack of belief was to be met with being burnt at the stake?

Are these religious nuts trying to force people to pray or something? They're already trying to force their shit down people's throats, but I can't help but wonder, how far do they plan to take this?

[Violet]

Attempting to give a damn...

Damn not given.

I really really do miss the Dotard... he should come back from wherever her went

[Cinjin]

The judge did grant students permission to make the sign of the cross, wear religious garb or kneel to face Mecca. But that’s not good enough for some students at the high school.

You see, it's never enough. Their god has to be everywhere. The judge clearly made allowances for personal religious freedom.

I don't think this hurts the First Amendment at all. If a White Supremacists student demanded the right to say, "I hate niggers" under protection of the First Amendment it would not be tolerated at a school function. The same goes for other people's strong-held opinions/beliefs. What's good for one is good for everybody! Imagine if a Buddhist demanded prayers and offerings be represented in equal parts at his graduation. Eventually every absurd religious claim would have to be upheld to present a fair and unbiased graduation ceremony. The whole event would become a religious fiasco.

I fully support the judge's decision. Keep your religion personal .... the rest of us shouldn't have to fucking hear it!

[Jaysyn]

Which reminds me that I have a baby baking in the oven and need to take it out. I don't want that tender meat to get to dried out.

[Minimalist]

What's good for one is good for everybody!

Xtians think they are fucking special. They get to cram jesus up everyone's asshole but fuck anyone else who wants to promote their version of the invisible sky-daddy.

[Autumnlicious]

Should a student violate the order, school district officials could find themselves in legal trouble. Judge Biery ordered that his ruling be “enforced by incarceration or other sanctions for contempt of Court if not obeyed by District official (sic) and their agents.”

Students aren't government employees & should not be held to this. This isn't separation of church & state, it is trampling on the 1st Amendment. I have a feeling this is going to turn into a huge fiasco.

Here is where you've misinterpreted the ruling - a student who speaks at graduation is selected by government employees et al to represent them. As such, it is reasonable to assume that the school will take necessary steps (like prescreening) so as to best select someone to speak at the school's official function. Ergo, the school is one that is taking responsibility over what is said in it's name.

In addition, the federal judge may have also attached the penalties that he did in anticipation that the school or other parties may try to subvert the ruling anyways.

Also, while a private individual has the rights to represent themself however they wish to, if you are under the jurisdiction or employ of someone else, what you say can be taken as representative of not yourself, but the organization.

TL;DR- they're not punishing students - they're punishing the actions taken by students under the name of the school district.