Kansas school board votes to allow student-led prayer over school intercom

[cbayer]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/26/kansas-school-board-votes-to-allow-student-led-prayer-over-school-intercom/

By David Edwards
Thursday, September 26, 2013 14:30 EDT

(Shutterstock.com)

A school board in Kansas voted this week to allow student-led prayer at all activities, and even went as far as offering the schools’ public address systems for religious use.

According to the Leader and Times, school prayer had not been on the agenda for Monday’s meeting of USD No. 480 board in Liberal, but board member Nick Hatcher brought it up at the last minute.

Liberal High School had banned prayer before football games several years ago over concerns that allowing to students to pray over the intercom system could be construed as the school sponsoring a particular religion, which was banned by the Supreme Court in 1962.

In its 2000 Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe decision, the Supreme Court specifically ruled that allowing students to use the public address system to pray at football games violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

more at link

[Mr.Bill]

1. I guess they have money to burn

for the losing legal defense of this stupidity.

[cbayer]

2. What a stupid waste of their money. This is going to be a guaranteed loss.

[Bay Boy]

3. Alternate headline:

"Kansas school boards votes to be sued"

[LostOne4Ever]

15. +1000 (nt)

[redstatebluegirl]

4. Doesn't this intimidate a student who is not Christian?

Why can't we recognize the separation of Church and State in this country. Our founding fathers did not intend to have a state religion, in fact they ran away from that concept.

This is what hurts the true Christians in America, this kind of extreme, shove it down your throat Christianity.

I don't trust this Supreme Court to fix this they don't have the ability to see how wrong this is.

[Mr.Bill]

5. It's using a taxpayer funded facility

to favor a certain religion. You can't do that. Case closed.

[cbayer]

7. Of course it does and I think it's being done with that as it's intent.

They are spitting in the face of the Supreme Court as well, which seems like a really bad idea.

SCOTUS has already ruled on this and ruled very clearly.

I would hope that the school board would drop it at the first legal challenge but they appear to be quite determined to challenge the existing law.

[RKP5637]

19. I guess prayers to satan will be readily accepted. Great news!

And the Church of Satan will be readily accepted by this school.

[madrchsod]

6. i take it the high school doesn't have a civics class.

[cbayer]

8. Apparently not. This is just crazy.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

9. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!!! Oh, and nice ironic school name.

This is such bullshit. Schools do not prevent anyone from praying...silently.

[cbayer]

11. Liberal! I know, I caught that too.

[RKP5637]

20. And in Kansas, an alternative world of strangness. I escaped, so should others IMO. n/t

[mindwalker_i]

10. Maybe this is an opportunity

Get a bunch of dudes together who will demand to say a prayer to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and have them wear pasta strainers all day

[cbayer]

12. Yep. They were given a heads up about the possible unintended consequences,

and just blew them off.

I would love to see someone demand that they have an FSM prayer.

[mindwalker_i]

13. Yeah, and if they were denied

They could raise a HUGE stink about that! Personally, I'd love it if a bunch of non-Xtians wore pasta strainers to school, and prayed before each class.

[Mariana]

14. Good luck finding a bunch of non-Xians there.

The school board is doing this because they know the vast majority of the locals approve.

[cbayer]

18. That, in fact, has been what they have said.

But it would only take one.

[skepticscott]

22. The same sort of thing happens in schools

all over the Bible Belt every day. But we're not supposed to point those things out on this board, because certain posters have tried to declare the criticism of extremists as off-limits. We're only supposed to talk about the warm, fuzziness of "liberal" and "progressive" Xstians and the wonderfulness of their "faith communities" in forming "coalitions" to solve all of the world's problems.

[trotsky]

17. They won't give a crap about the FSM.

You have to go for the jugular - a Muslim prayer.

[skepticscott]

21. I'm sure those good Christian kids

would be more than welcoming and accepting toward the Muslim students who offered that prayer up. Just like their good Christian parents taught them to be.

[hrmjustin]

16. This is just plain wrong.