warning this can offend law abiding citizens - Which I'm not one of.

reply to post by Anti-Evil

After reading your post and having given it some thought I believe I can state the following:
Where I do not agree with your view points on some things, nor do I believe that all things that come out of the Supreme Court is wrong, it is however, the opinion of the people who sit on the bench who must make that judgement. The Supreme Court, unlike the other 2 branches of the federal government, is the only branch where their decisions have to be documented and explained, for all to read. Can you imagine if the council member of your city, or Mayor, or State assemblyman, or Govenor or Represenatitive, or Senator, or even the President of the United States of America, had to sit down before voting or coming out with any order, had to give an explination as to why they voted one way or another and justify it in the eyes of the law? It is their opinions that are written that help shape the very foundations of all laws, tell us what is and is not fair within the country. They can not use Religion as a means to judge such, but what they have learned and wisdom. And I can only hope that the point of religion would have in those cases is to serve as a point of morality and a guiding light of divine inspiration to be fair and equal under the law at all times.
Now there are a few aspects and legal issues that have come up in my years being on this earth that I do not agree with. The first and foremost is to remove all aspects of religion across the country. Personally I think that if it has been there for over 40 years, well just leave it as such has become a mark of history. On the flip side, the problems that are coming out with most religious organizations, in such a diverse culture as the United States, is someone is bound to be offended by the mention of one religion or another. I also find that many of the traditions and parts of the culture are slowly eroded away in the name of freedom of religion is also a shame. For those over 30, can you remember being in school and christmas carols are sung, or the school is decroated in honor of the holidays? When I was growing up, it was not religious, but part of the spirit of the season.
I see where doors are open that should not be, in favor of equal rights, but often discriminate against another group, and the concept of equal under the law, quickly erodes down to more use of social justice as a political tool to an end.
So no you did not offend me, and yes I am a law abiding citizen in this country. I respect your right to speak, and always will, no matter if I agree or do not agree with what is said.

I agree with everyone who has posted in this thread.

May Lucifer the source off all creation, and the only true god, bless you and lead you on the path to infinity.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


I went to Burleson Elementary and Bowie Jr High . Those were the good ol' days !

Agree with your post . Not a cristian either but , there are times that I find myself in a public setting where prayers are being said .

I bow and remain silent simply out of respect , not because I agree with any dogma .

On the other hand , if the principal had've been muslim , I'm sure he would have been rode out of town on a rail for doing the same thing .


How's them Panthers doin' now-a-days ?

Wow. Not what I was expecting. Great one.

A passer-alonger for sure and already being done.

Thank you.

reply to post by sirnex

This is where we delve into the land of hypocritical bigotry. No one, not even this new law is saying they don't have the RIGHT to speak FREELY about their religion. All it's saying is that they can't PUBLICLY SANCTION their ONE RELIGIOUS VIEW at a PUBLIC EVENT with MANY RELIGIOUS VIEWS. If they want to privately pray to their deity of choice/indoctrination, they are FREE TO DO SO.

WTF I agree again. Yes you do have this right Sirnex. Some how something just feels wrong.

If this prayer before the game was a tradition, then the community had been part of it for many years. If no one was offended in their town, I see no problem with the prayer. Keep these issues state and local and let the People decide how they want to live their lives. The Federal government has no business here if no one's rights were violated.

If every one just prayed their own way and let others pray their own way, there would be peace.

To be honest I think it is sickening. Prayer does not dictate how well the football team will do anyways. The team's skill will dictate how well the team will do. I think it is downright perverse to allow prayer at all even if its only for the football team. We are talking about high school athletics anyways, a friendly fun game even though I know some losers like to act that high school football is tough sh!t. God does not belong in school, or sports for that matter. God should not belong in anything except for church.

reply to post by nunya13


It seems to me that we are all One in this great adventure of life... and we all have the free will to make the choice to do anything and everything we want, whenever we want, bound by the consequences of karmic restitution. We all know, deep down inside, what the right thing to do may be. We are all on our own because there is only One of us here, life is ours and we live it our way.

Love and Light,

By inviting the audience to pray is a very specific manner, the principal violated the very law he was whining about, and he should be disciplined.

I am a Christian but do not believe that any school should be praying or expecting others to pray...the courts have settled this. I guarantee you that the people who like what the man did would scream bloody murder if the principal said to pary in the name of Allah, or buddha, or krisna...it HAS to be the God that THEY approve of!!

This is nonsense...anyone who would violate the rules should not be leading our kids...if he wants to be a rebel let him attack the issue head on and not try and get the parents stirred uo to pray HIS version of religious worship.

By invoking Jesus name and recommending that they pray in that name, he knew he was preaching the Gospel...and thats fine in church or in his home...but NOT as the leader of a school...BAD example...if you do not like a certain law, just ignore it!! You are justified because you are right!!

If he doe it again he gets fired...no doubt he should get a warning, but no more encouraging specific prayers on school grounds....it is verboten.

Ok, so if the entire team went to the same church and all of the opposing teams were of the same faith and chose to do this, would it still be a problem?

This is not a statement that was read over the PA system at the football game at Roane County High School , Kingston , Tennessee , by school Principal, Jody McLeod. Rather it is a modification of that statement, done as an experiment, to shed a different light on the principal's remarks

"It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games, to say a prayer and play the National Anthem, to honor God and Country," and thus to inject patriotism and the pressure of religious conformity into what should be, after all, simply sport.

Due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a Prayer is a violation of Federal Case Law. I am implying by this statement that the Supreme Court seeks to ban prayer. This is a false statement and therefore a violation of one of the so called Ten Commandments. The truth would be that the Supreme Court of a pluralistic society is seeking to prevent a majority faith from imposing it's observances on members of minority faiths in public places.

As I understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it "an alternate life style," and if someone is offended, that's OK. In my particular social milieu, sexual matters are rarely discussed frankly or compassionately, so I won't mention the word homosexual. If it were up to me, discussing homosexuality in a frank and compassionate way would be illegal in a public venue.

I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity, by dispensing condoms and calling it, "safe sex." If someone is offended, that's OK. If I had my way, no information about birth control or contraception would be made available to the young and if it were, it would certainly not be accompanied by sound advice on the implications, emotional, moral, ethical and financial of casual sexual intercourse.

I can even use this public facility to present the merits of killing an unborn baby as a "viable! means of birth control." Of couse I am just as free to oppose abortion as a means of contraception, if I wish, but I am more interested in removing the right of others to advocate for the right to abortion. If someone is offended, no problem..

I can designate a school day as "Earth Day" and involve students in activities to worship religiously and praise the goddess "Mother Earth" and call it "ecology.." This statement is another one where I don't seem to recall what I said in my opening statement. The Supreme Court seeks to prevent the imposition of One faith on people of other faiths in places like public schools. The phrase "Mother Earth" is an age old personification of the planet. The fear that I am raising about the surreptitious recruitment of the young to a new "earth religion" in the schools, although it might be applicable to "satanic rock and roll," is a little overblown when applied to the situation in schoolrooms.

I can use literature, videos and presentations in the classroom that depicts people with strong, traditional Christian convictions as "simple minded" and "ignorant" and call it "enlightenment." Main stream Americans of sound Christian backround have been portrayed as dumb klutzes since the days of Nathanial Hawthorne, with scarcely a break. Television is one great hymn to the American klutz. The focus in school material is seldom the ignorance of Christians except where Christian absolutism has stood in the way of science, as in the case of Giovanni Bruno or Galileo, or where Biblical literalism has been poorly handled in class by insensitive and ill prepared teachers.

However, if anyone uses this facility to honor GOD and to ask HIM to Bless this event with safety and good sportsmanship, then Federal Case Law is violated. Given political will, it would be possible to strike down any law of the land by force of legislation, if it were the will of the majority of Americans and if that will could be translated into political action. That is the price of democracy. The fact of the matter is that the political will of the majority of Americans is toward tolerance and the prevention of the imposition of one religious viewpoint, unlike the situation in Iran where the state can send religious police into the street to harass the population on the minutiae of religious observance.

This appears to be inconsistent at best, and at worst, diabolical.
Apparently, we are to be tolerant of everything and anyone, except GOD and HIS Commandments. I'm afraid I am betraying my biases here. I don't want tolerance of God and his commandments. I want the pre-eminence of God and his commandments. I want a return to Salem in the 1600s. I want to impose my beliefs on those of you here before me. I want you to be forced to endure my religious observance, even if you have another belief or no belief.

Nevertheless , as a school principal, I frequently ask staff and students to abide by rules with which they do not necessarily agree. For me to do otherwise would be inconsistent at best, and at worst, hypocritical... I suffer from that affliction enough unintentionally.. I certainly do not need to add an intentional transgression. Federal statute forbids me from extending my control over others even further than it already extends. I'm a big fish in a little pond. I may not attempt to extend my sway beyond what is lawfully given to it without feeling the sanctions of a vigilant democratic state.

For this reason, I shall "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's," and refrain from praying at this time. Ceasar salad is my favorite so I like to work him into a speech. What I meant to say is that I will obey the law, as it is a law abiding citizen's duty to do.

" However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank GOD and ask HIM,in the name of JESUS, to Bless this event, please feel free to do so.. As far as I know, that's not against the law----yet." In a land where legal issues are adjudicated by courts, a rose might, by any other name still be a rose, but it might sneak past lawmen on the lookout for roses. And so it is with prayer. In a benevolent society, prayer presented as such might sneak by without sanction, but an injunction to pause and reflect in whatever way seems appropriate to you on the good fortune we share on this occasion and which we all together, no matter of what faith or conviction, help to make for one another, will surely meet with no objection.


[edit on 25-5-2010 by ipsedixit]

Originally posted by Mountainmeg
I'm agnostic, but find it absolutely wonderful the principle would do this. BTW, Snopes backs this up as true.

www.snopes.com...

I agree as well, but Snopes bites as a source for reliability.

I support anyone who stands up for the freedom to worship as you choose.
doesnt matter if it's God, Allah, Yoda, or Elvis IMHO.

[edit on 25-5-2010 by Bad Ninja]

reply to post by Anti-Evil


I think this is wonderful. I can only imagine what it must have looked like with everyone praying. I am sure that the majority bowed their heads to God Almighty. Notice I typed majority? Thats right... Majority.

A few folks might be offended. Why should we change laws to appease the few but very vocal?

I would of laughed the whole time, then booed as loud as I could when people started to bow their heads.

I would of loved for her to try that at my HS. She would of been laughed out of the announcer's booth.

Good, time for some more seperation between church and state. No more public prayer in school. Feel free to gather round and pray, but this crap with the loud speaker is past due.

I hope they start taxing some churches next. (Not the poor ones but some are making a profit.)
I'm lutheran btw.

reply to post by intrepid


Plenty of Christianity out there that doesn't follow Jesus' teachings.......what are you talking about? Christianity is the belief in Christ and his teachings. Seriously, can you please explain yourself?

Originally posted by Destiny Of Souls
I would of laughed the whole time, then booed as loud as I could when people started to bow their heads.

I would of loved for her to try that at my HS. She would of been laughed out of the announcer's booth.

I gave you a star out of sheer sarcasm. You need attention so you'll get it.

Enjoy yourself, playskool.

reply to post by ipsedixit


ipsedixit,

It's no secret that you're bored.



I gave you a star out of sarcasm as well.

I for one feel mixed. I admire this fellow's cajones but injecting his religion-informed social views into the mix with backhanded remarks about things like sex education, environmental education, allusions to the "perverted sexuality" of what I can only presume to be homosexuality... I hardly admire that. Let's turn this around and suppose for a moment that a person in the same position were to give the same speech, only they invited the crowd into a magical incantation intended to bring about the embodiment of the goddess. Let's suppose they made an appeal for equal marriage rights for homosexuals, clear and concise sex education to reduce the threat of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy, and decried the disaster of industrialized capitalism that was the Deepwater Horizon spill. Would you admire them for sticking to their guns or would you accuse them of abusing their office and using the venue inappropriately to support a social, political, and/or religious agenda that does not belong there?

Originally posted by okbmd
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

I went to Burleson Elementary and Bowie Jr High . Those were the good ol' days !

Agree with your post . Not a cristian either but , there are times that I find myself in a public setting where prayers are being said .

I bow and remain silent simply out of respect , not because I agree with any dogma .

On the other hand , if the principal had've been muslim , I'm sure he would have been rode out of town on a rail for doing the same thing .


How's them Panthers doin' now-a-days ?

Well...it ain't the 80's anymore, that's for sure.

To me, i realize the role that religion plays in peoples lives. It isn't my call whether or not they need this belief. Rather, out of humanity it is something i think i need to give reverence to.