Among all the other aspects of this story that are worthy of comment, such as the bravery of a small bunch of high school kids who refused to allow a federal judge to interefere with their faith and their community’s noble traditions, there is also the abiding impact of the George W. Bush presidency.
Two of the most enduring (and endearing) successes of his Presidency have been his appointments to the bench, from SCOTUS on down, and his appointments to the Federal Reserve system
Bill Pryor, Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owens, and the rest of the federal circuit court and appeals court judges (to include Brett Cavanaugh next week) will be with us for a long time to come. At the Supreme Court, Mr. Bush may not be done yet. But his appointments of Sam Alito and John Roberts were inspired, long term successes for which he has received scant credit.
Meanwhile over at the Fed, Ben Bernanke more than offsets Princeton’s shame at being the alma mater of ex-Enron advisor Paul Krugman, the Juan Cole of finance. His tenure, and that of the other Bush-appointed Governors will be marked by an emphasis on low taxes and economic growth, a winning combination.
Bat One - 02:05pm on 05/21/2006
Bet your ass, Monday morning 09:00, this judge is going to issue bench warrants for school administrators and students who dared to defy his commands. Bank on it.
TwoHotel9 - 03:05pm on 05/21/2006
No bench warrants for students or adminstrators unless they violated the Judges order, which was probably directed to school administrators.
Next graduation the students can handle their snakes.
Arshiya Saiyed is one of those girls that seems to get everything done in a day: school, volunteering, extra curriculars.
“I was planning graduation with the senior committee when this comes,” she says.
....
“Terms like Jesus Christ, heavenly father, I talked about the fact I was Muslim...”
Friday, May 19, 2006 11:29 a.m. EDT
Judge Blocks School Graduation Prayers
A federal judge on Friday blocked a southern Kentucky high school from including prayers in its graduation ceremony Friday evening.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit this week seeking a restraining order on behalf of an unidentified student at Russell County High School in Russell Springs, 90 miles south of Louisville.
The student had appealed to principal Darren Gossage to drop the prayer from the Friday evening ceremony, but the principal refused, ACLU attorney Lili Lutgens said.
Andrew Bryant - 04:05pm on 05/21/2006
The ongoing war on Christianity. Let’s put it to a national vote. Oh, we did. The First Amendment says: “...nor prohibit the free exercise thereof(of religion)”. Sounds pretty clear to me.
robert108 - 04:05pm on 05/21/2006
The ongoing war on Christianity.
Have they padlocked the churches?
WOOF - 05:05pm on 05/21/2006
Andrew Bryant asked, What do you make of this report by WHAS-TV in Louisville
1. Prayer in school is not “unConstitional”. 2. So she was offended by Christian prayers that generally thank God and are peaceful - so what? Her religion offends me and I’m not telling her to jump.
likwidshoe - 02:05am on 05/22/2006
I find her religious practices highly offensive, stoning of rape victims, sodomizing of young boys, suicide bombings. Can I get a restraining order against her?
TwoHotel9 - 03:05pm on 05/22/2006
But almost the minute she questioned the religious prayer, Arshiya started getting harassed by a group of students, some in individual meetings, and one student who told her he wanted her out of the country.
Surprise. Not.
We don’t have a ‘state religion’ in this country; this country was a harbor for people who didn’t want a state religion. That’s what the separation of church and state is all about.
The state cannot force you to ascribe to any one belief system, church or religion. And if a government/government-sponsored organization does force you to participate in such a service or religion, then your freedom of religion is gone.
The attitude she received doesn’t surprise me in the least, though.
diane - 04:05pm on 05/22/2006
However, I’m sure that next year if another Aliysha and some Muslim friends want to practice their religion at the graduation ceremonies in your town at your kids’ schools, none of you will mind.
Among all the other aspects of this story that are worthy of comment, such as the bravery of a small bunch of high school kids who refused to allow a federal judge to interefere with their faith and their community’s noble traditions, there is also the abiding impact of the George W. Bush presidency.
Two of the most enduring (and endearing) successes of his Presidency have been his appointments to the bench, from SCOTUS on down, and his appointments to the Federal Reserve system
Bill Pryor, Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owens, and the rest of the federal circuit court and appeals court judges (to include Brett Cavanaugh next week) will be with us for a long time to come. At the Supreme Court, Mr. Bush may not be done yet. But his appointments of Sam Alito and John Roberts were inspired, long term successes for which he has received scant credit.
Meanwhile over at the Fed, Ben Bernanke more than offsets Princeton’s shame at being the alma mater of ex-Enron advisor Paul Krugman, the Juan Cole of finance. His tenure, and that of the other Bush-appointed Governors will be marked by an emphasis on low taxes and economic growth, a winning combination.
Bet your ass, Monday morning 09:00, this judge is going to issue bench warrants for school administrators and students who dared to defy his commands. Bank on it.
No bench warrants for students or adminstrators unless they violated the Judges order, which was probably directed to school administrators.
Next graduation the students can handle their snakes.
What do you make of this report by WHAS-TV in Louisville
The ongoing war on Christianity. Let’s put it to a national vote. Oh, we did. The First Amendment says: “...nor prohibit the free exercise thereof(of religion)”. Sounds pretty clear to me.
Have they padlocked the churches?
Andrew Bryant asked, What do you make of this report by WHAS-TV in Louisville
1. Prayer in school is not “unConstitional”. 2. So she was offended by Christian prayers that generally thank God and are peaceful - so what? Her religion offends me and I’m not telling her to jump.
I find her religious practices highly offensive, stoning of rape victims, sodomizing of young boys, suicide bombings. Can I get a restraining order against her?
But almost the minute she questioned the religious prayer, Arshiya started getting harassed by a group of students, some in individual meetings, and one student who told her he wanted her out of the country.
Surprise. Not.
We don’t have a ‘state religion’ in this country; this country was a harbor for people who didn’t want a state religion. That’s what the separation of church and state is all about.
The state cannot force you to ascribe to any one belief system, church or religion. And if a government/government-sponsored organization does force you to participate in such a service or religion, then your freedom of religion is gone.
The attitude she received doesn’t surprise me in the least, though.
However, I’m sure that next year if another Aliysha and some Muslim friends want to practice their religion at the graduation ceremonies in your town at your kids’ schools, none of you will mind.