đ¨ STEUBENVILLE CITY SCHOOLS, THIS NEEDS AN EXPLANATION.
â Students have a constitutional right to pray.
đŤThe school district does not get to turn itself into the prayer leader.
Yet the official Steubenville City Schools page didnât say students are holding a prayer event.
It said:
âJOIN US as WE come together in prayer.â
Then the official high school page tells us FCA meets during both lunch periods, thanks adults for helping âlead FCA,â and says FCA holds a âvoluntary devotional with the Big Red football team in the locker room before each gameââwith the entire team participating.
That last part should make every parent ask questionsâŚ
-Who leads the locker-room devotional?
-Who are the adults âhelping leadâ FCA?
-Are coaches participating?
-Who organized todayâs noon prayer inside the school?
đBecause federal guidance is remarkably clear: public-school teachers, coaches, and other officials acting in their official capacities may not lead students in prayer, devotional readings, or other religious activities.
And please spare us the word âvoluntary.â
âVoluntaryâ doesnât tell us who is standing at the front of that locker room. It doesnât tell us whether a coach is participating. And it doesnât tell us what it feels like to be the one teenager expected to decline when âthe entire teamâ participates.
Student prayer is protected. School-sponsored religious exercise is a different matter.
Steubenville City Schools published these claims themselves. Now parents and students deserve to know exactly who is doing the preaching. đââď¸
What people are saying:
- Facebook User: Why are these posts of the Secular Education Association always against something. Against prayer, against LifeWise, against first amendment freedom of religion unless it fits in a narrowly defined box. What are they promoting, anything positive?
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User We are promoting religious freedom. Thatâs the entire point.
Students praying voluntarily? Protected.
Students forming religious clubs? Protected.
Students expressing their faith at school? Protected.
A public school district using its institutional voice to invite students to pray? Different issue.
Public-school employees leading students in devotional religious exercises? Different issue.
Government promoting one religion to other peopleâs children? Different issue.
The First Amendment protects your right to practice your religion. It does not require a public school to practice, promote, or lead it with you.
And that isnât a ânarrowly defined box.â That distinction is what allows a Christian student, Muslim student, Jewish student, atheist student, and everyone else to walk into the same public school with their freedom of conscience intact.So yes, we are very much FOR something: Religious freedom for everyone â not government promotion of religion for some.
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User We are promoting religious freedom. Thatâs the entire point.
- Facebook User: grooming our children
- Facebook User: Isnât this the school that tried to cover up one of its students getting raped?
- Facebook User: Evangelicals have NO shame
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