Good.

And I would counter that prayer at a public event goes AGAINST the founding of the country. You want to pray, go to church, nobody's stopping you, not even us Godless northeastern intellectual liberal Fake Americans.

So, in this time of deadly budget cuts, the trustees are going to incur large legal expenses on a crusade they are bound to lose. That will be a fine educational experience for the district's students!

Glad to hear about the suit. Makes me wonder if their god can only hear prayers that are spoken aloud in groups so non-believers have to sit through them. I kinda thought that God was omnipotent and could hear the most silent of prayers. And all are able to pray silently anytime they want.

unbelievable!

It is a reproach to ALL sides in this argument that it continues to go on. If the plaintiffs and defendants in this suit would consistently follow the ideals they cite, they would communicate sufficientl to accomodate, rather than litigate.

Is there more to this story in terms of why litigation was chosen as the best route?

Venom belongs to the Godless.

My knowlege of American Government is a little rusty...but don't the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate all open with prayer?

Those that question why litigation is necessary should read the article in the Orange County Register. It explains that the publicly funded prayers and indoctrination have been ongoing for 5 years, despite the quiet efforts of the faculty to get its leaders to obey the Constitution.

What about Christian rights to free speech? If it's our desire to open a ceremony with prayer, why do we have to be the ones to change? What does it hurt? Are they going to sue the government because they had prayer when he took his oath?!!!!

Ally,

If a bunch of christians, buddhists, muslims, agnostics, Baha'is, or Hindus wish to excercise their right to free speech at an event, they are more than welcome to sit in their seats and recite a prayer to themselves, or even in a group somewhere in the event. The problem arises when someone speaks in the context of representation of an institution of government. In that case, the individual's right to free speech is trumphed by the people's right to not have their government establish an official religion.
As for the court's previous rulings, my personal opinion is that the exception for "ceremonial deism" was a cop-out invented by the court so that there wouldn't be a popular uprising against that particular portion of the first ammendment. The court, while supposedly neutral is still a politically sensitive body.

How is liberalism any different from religion?

this is funny, you never have to join in a prayer or agree, why is praying so offensive to you? Why does praying make some people feel so imitimdated. When your life may be in danger, you just may need those prayers to save you.

oh, and #2 did you mean funding? and to #4, he does also hear silent prayers, so you really need to be careful. Thanks #9.....and this before I go, for the non-believers and the anti-christ out there, let's say all prayers cease from the public, and anything that has to do with God is non-existent in the world, you would fall prey to...who, another Godless person? Arent many of you, without hope, turning to violence, drugs, crime. So this is the new world we are being invited to? No thanks!!

To those aguing FOR prayer:
Lots of things existed at the founding of the country--slavery, involuntary servitude, laws which ignored women and children--and an enlightened country has moved beyond them. Aly, what "christian" right to free speech? It's a right to free speech for everyone, but not everywhere, everytime. What deep insecurity is reduced by forcing people at a public graduations, including graduating seniors and faculty who are required to attend to listen to YOUR prayers? What about the injunction from your own Savior who advocated private prayers to your Father in Heaven? And what kind of warped logic threatens non-believers that the absence of public prayer will result in God's wrath or indifference? Remember, they don't believe in God,or at least a monotheistic one, so what's the point of your threat? It's like telling an adult that Santa won't come.
Ben Franklin tossed out the argument that people are more likely to follow Christ's teachings if they believed he was divine, realangel. If you need the parent in the room to behave, then you're at a pretty level of moral development. I follow Christ's teachings because they model the way to create an ethical society in which everyone is treated as they would like to be. I don't need your baseless and silly threats.

The way to resolve the issue is to call prayer an art.