Arkansas school cancels entire graduation after being asked not to pray

[Phillip McCleod]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/09/arkansas-school-cancels-entire-graduation-after-being-asked-not-to-pray/

A school district in Arkansas has decided to completely cancel 6th grade graduation ceremonies after some parents asked that Christian prayers not be included.

According to KAIT, Riverside School district made the decision after being contacted by a parent and receiving a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union.

“As Christians and a mainly Christian town I think, there were a lot of people hurt that our rights were taken away,” Sixth grade parent Kelly Adams told the station. “My daughter graduated last year from 6th grade and my son is graduating this year from 6th grade, and we had a pastor open our ceremony and my daughter actually closed the ceremony in prayer.”

“We just went to take a stand for God because we felt like out rights were taken away,” she added. “I realize they have rights too but you can’t take rights away from one group and give it to another.”

emphasis added..
..
*sigh*

[hrmjustin]

1. Jesus Christ was very clear on prayer!

He did not want people to pray because they are making a statement of how good they are. These people are not hero;s and they are not obeying what Jesus wanted. God will be fine without that prayer.

[curlyred]

12. Something about praying in your closet

Not at graduation.

[hrmjustin]

13. Yes he said go in your closet and pray in secret as your father rewards you in secret.

Praying to make a political statement is totally against what Jesus said.

[Freddie]

25. That's what I was taught, as a Lutheran

Not literally in the closet, of course, but that prayer, and your faith in general, is something you live by your deeds--helping others, etc.--and not something you wear on your sleeve. You don't show off about how "Christian" you are. Sigh.

[onpatrol98]

21. They must've heard you...

Now, they're praying in a really big closet...their church.

[Politicalboi]

2. Try being gay

“I realize they have rights too but you can’t take rights away from one group and give it to another.”

Yes you can. And these assholes would be screaming if some Muslim group of parents wanted their prayers sited too. Prayer is for church ONLY! Take your kid to a church after graduating and waste your time praying ALL day. Although, I believe taking children to church IS abuse.

[onpatrol98]

20. Great Point!!!

They would absolutely be screaming if a Muslim group of parents wanted their prayers too. That's why I think the perfect solution is...let every little group go their own way...and do their own thing. Problem solved! Kudos to Arkansas! They have shown us the way.

Muslim graduation ---> 2nd Street
Christian graduation ----> 4th Avenue
Wiccan graduation ----> 443 Augusta Street
Secular graduation ----> High School

Tolerant Johnny, raised by tolerant parents who feels comfortable in any environment -----> is exhausted because now he's got to go to several different graduations to see his friends graduate.

[msongs]

3. christians punish non-believers yet again. it's not about "prayer" just christians prayer. so will

kids who don't pray still get a graduation?

[elleng]

6. NO ONE gets graduation!

[Phillip McCleod]

9. nope. not unless they attend the *church*..

..where they're holding the substitute 'graduation' ceremony. 'everyone' is invited to hear the good news about jeezus the mythological magicman at their children's 6th grade ceremony.

the *STUPID*!!

[elleng]

4. GEEZE,

they complain their 'rights' were being 'taken away,' so they remove the right of the entire class to have GRADUATION!

[Cha]

10. Exactly.. not very "Christian" of them. More like whining and

taking their toys home.

[elleng]

15. Worse than mere whining, imo, Cha,

looking for the right term. Poor kids. DAMN!

[Cha]

16. Acting like

dictators?

[elleng]

19. 'Infantile'

Just saw this elsewhere @ DU, and struck me as apt. Will continue to search.

[dimbear]

5. If you don't play by my rules, I'm taking my ball and going home. n/t

[Drale]

7. Ah good old "christian" values

if we don't get our way, we are going to ruin it for everyone else

[onpatrol98]

18. Wouldn't this work in both directions...though

Couldn't a Christian post the same thing...Ah...good old (FILL IN BLANK) values. If we don't get our way, we're going to ruin it for everyone else.

[ZRT2209]

8. American Taliban

[Bennyboy]

11. Let's demonize non christians!

That is all this is about. to make the non believers look like they are the ones who cancelled graduation. BTW< I have a problem with a pastor being invited to pray but no problem with an individual praying at graduation.....

[Phillip McCleod]

14. the reason i have a problem with individuals praying at public ceremonies..

..is that they always ask the audience to join in. it's never *really* about the individual praying. if they wanted to do that, they'd be happy in the closet with the door closed, whispering to 'the father' in secret.. where, according to jeezus, they belong.

[Mariana]

27. It's a performance.

It's not about prayer at all. It's all about being seen to be praying, and making sure everyone knows how righteous they are.

[onpatrol98]

17. I think this solution actually works...

The people who wanted prayer will have a ceremony in a church. The people who don't want to pray can have a ceremony somewhere else.

Win - Win!



The people who didn't want prayer, now won't be subjected to one. The people who did want prayer, get to keep it.

Having a sixth grade graduation ceremony is a tradition and not even a tradition at every school, it's not a law. So, people can start new traditions. Private ceremonies where like minded people can do what they want to do. Think of all the possibilities.

Not to mention, if they don't like the idea of secular public schools...well, they can always build private schools and send their kids there. No one will care if they pray or do anything else. Without voucher funds, of course. People who don't like government interference shouldn't be looking for government funding.

I like this idea. Everyone gets to do their own thing...and no one has to be offended. Many churches, organizations, etc. already have little baccalaureate programs for kids who participate with them...in addition to a graduation ceremony.

I might even start a little company...arrange your own graduation ceremony. Reasonable group rates, discounts for 5 or more students. Some restrictions may apply. Franchises available. (Can't you already see the possible commercial?)

[Phillip McCleod]

22. i don't see how the kids win in that scenario, at all. \n

[onpatrol98]

23. Most of the time, these things are really driven by parents...regardless

Few people are REALLY interested in the kids. We don't even know if the parent of the child that complained would have a problem participating in the original graduation ceremony. It may have been a parent complaining and rightly so about the schools lack of consideration for the law...nonetheless, for all I know the child may be wishing mom and dad had left well enough alone and allowed them to have a graduation like the last 100 before it.

The kids in the church ceremony win...because they now recognize that laws are real. If you want prayer. Have it in your church. So...they will. We should be cheering.

They didn't get to force kids uninterested in prayer to sit through one. If prayer REALLY is that important to them...then, they needed to go do it somewhere else. And, they will. As for the kids that didn't want to be forced to sit through a prayer. Now, they don't have to. In neither case, does one side get to force something upon the other. Both sides took a stand. And, there were consequences. This is life.

[LostOne4Ever]

24. Mainly Christian Town

“As Christians and a mainly Christian town I think, there were a lot of people hurt that our rights were taken away,”

Of course they fail to realize its not a PURELY Christian town. They were taking away non-christian kid's rights to not have someone else's beliefs forced on them, but they think they were the ones losing rights.

They can still pray, silently and to themselves. But thats not their actual intention. They want to force everyone in the town to think like them. Too bad they don't know what their OWN religion says about this:

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]Mathew 6:5-8[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

But people who force their beliefs on others seldom know what their own religious book says >.>

[liberal N proud]

26. This is what happens when religion takes over

Forcing people to pray kind of misses the whole point.