<p>It wasn’t courageous, he obviously anticipated the reaction he got. But it certainly was lazy. I don’t know what college this student plans to attend, but I hope he is not operating under the delusion that type of showboating passes for well thought argument and will earn him any claps on the back at an institution of higher learning.</p>
<p>The valedictorian of my daughter’s class last year is a brilliant young man who matriculated at MIT. His speech was riveting, poignant, original, and memorable. My son, then in 8th grade, was on the edge of his seat listening to this incredible student. </p>
<p>The subject of this thread robbed his audience.</p>
<p>Did the school have to approve his speech? Most schools do. So since he did not read the approved speech can they withhhold his diploma. If an atheist threw out the speech approved by the school and read a speech about the flying spaghetti monster or a Muslim about Mohammed I guess that would also be okay?</p>
<p>How easily we give this kid his 15 minutes of fame.
I still object to his making it personal. It’s graduation and he’s the speaker, but: it’s not supposed to be all about him. And, I’d feel the same way if he had instructed the audience on free speech rights or the sanctity of one’s religious beliefs. Or, as said, spoken about how meaningful his sports experiences were to him. And, yes, I do like the LP and do believe it’s fine to have some religious observation in public schools, as it is part of our culture. Not necessarily always one mainstream, majority religion. And, I’m Unitarian, if anything, though I don’t usually like labels.</p>
<p>D1’s college grad ceremony got around all this by having four reflections that represented some of the multiculturalism of the group- but, apparently there was some senior class vote on the nature of various things included.</p>
<p>ps. a bright young friend of mine, in addition to thanking God, went into great detail about each parent and sibling. Does this sort of thing belong to the speechmaker? I think not. the event belongs to the group.</p>
<p>@tom1944 said “Did the school have to approve his speech? Most schools do. So since he did not read the approved speech can they withhhold his diploma. If an atheist threw out the speech approved by the school and read a speech about the flying spaghetti monster or a Muslim about Mohammed I guess that would also be okay?”</p>
<p>As a Constitutionalist (and a Christian), I wouldn’t have any objection to those speeches.</p>
<p>As I mentioned previously, the valedictorian at my kid’s Catholic school tore up his approved speech and gave a speech that was clearly offensive to the administration and many in the audience, and he wasn’t punished in any way.</p>
<p>Why should it take public displays of Christian words and symbolism for it to be the “Bible Belt”? Is your faith so weak that you must impose it in every public place and on every person in hearing for it to survive? Being forced to “remove” religious symbols from public places is merely being forced to NOT impose it on people who don’t share your beliefs. If tax dollars pay for it, then no religious symbolism or scripture should be involved. Period. Just because parts of the country have bullied their way INTO displaying those items over the years doesn’t make it right or constitutional.</p>
<p>MichiganGeorgia- A smart kid would have found a way to talk about tradition, values and free speech without using words that would trip the filter.</p>
<p>As to discrimination against atheists-I think you’d be surprised. My husband and I were once turned down by an adoption agency because we wrote “atheist” under the religion section of the application. We were young and well educated, my husband was a professional, I was a former preschool teacher, we were successfully raising a happy, healthy adopted toddler, and our application picture of us with the toddler included our golden retriever and, I kid you not, a white picket fence. Our adoption rep. told us and our lawyer that we had been disqualified because we were atheists. This wasn’t an overtly Christian agency but as a private agency it was free to use religion as a qualification even if it didn’t list it as a requirement.</p>
<p>riprorin-
Mea Culpa. I was one of those who read only the text (I was having problems with connecting to the video) and went with what was reported without watching the actual speech. In the context of a larger speech I don’t have a problem with an individual’s recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.</p>
<p>In the immortal words of Roseanne Roseannadanna, “Nevermind!”</p>
<p>@intparent: “Being forced to “remove” religious symbols from public places is merely being forced to NOT impose it on people who don’t share your beliefs. If tax dollars pay for it, then no religious symbolism or scripture should be involved. Period. Just because parts of the country have bullied their way INTO displaying those items over the years doesn’t make it right or constitutional.”</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that Christianity has played an important role in our cultural and historical heritage. Do you advocate rewriting our national history?</p>
<p>Dennis Prager makes compelling arguments on why that is a bad idea in the context of removing the cross from the seal of Los Angeles County.</p>
<p>In this case a student performed a similar (and similarly motivated) speech act instead of following the admin approved script and was punished. The punishment was upheld by the court and a federal appeals court then refused to take the case on appeal.</p>
<p>Riprorian, I did watch as much of the speech as was posted, and I also wish the entire speech had been available. Perhaps the young man had more to say that would change my opinion… But as it stands, the prayer appears to be being used as a way to thumb his nose at the principal who had approved the ripped up speech, and at the rule change. I can see how a more religious Christian would see it differently. But to me, his recitation of The Lord’s Prayer seemed to come not from a place of humility towards God, but from a place of political statement. I base that assessment on the fact that the rules about when it could be used had recently changed. </p>
<p>Had the rules not been recently changed, would he have given the same speech? We can’t know that, but my gut says no.</p>
<p>Whenhen wrote that many people have severe misconceptions about the values and beliefs of nonChristians. </p>
<p>Clearly, many people also have severe misconceptions about the values and beliefs of Christians as well. </p>
<p>This can change if we are willing to let commenters speak for themselves about their beliefs. </p>
<p>While nobody has said this literally, the concept that atheists are afraid to walk alone anywhere in the BIble Belt for fear of being accosted by marauding, rabid Christians who believe that Jesus has commanded them to beat up atheists is not just silly but revelatory of a severe misunderstanding of Christian teaching. </p>
<p>The idea that people brought children to Jesus and asked him to pray for them, but he said, “No, it is against my beliefs to pray out loud so I will just pat them on their heads instead” is similarly unsupported by scripture.</p>
<p>eastcoascrazy, I can’t presume to know what was in the student’s heart or mind, but I support his right to recite the Lord’s Prayer, just as I would support an atheist student’s right to declare his unbelief.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of “death by raised eyebrows” before.</p>
<p>The big question is how this student managed to be valedictorian when he obviously must have flunked civics. This was an act of pure selfishness. Put yourself in the place of those fellow students who were Jewish, Muslim, or non-religious. How would you feel sitting there at your graduation and have to suffer through a prayer at your secular, public high school? A graduation speech should be inclusive and uplifting for all members of the school and the school community, not just the Christian audience. I only hope that this young student will move on to a diverse university where he will learn tolerance. This is an all too familiar battle all over the country. Sectarian Christian prayers at public school graduations, football games, and other school functions are rampant. Organizations like the Freedom from Religion Foundation (of which I am a member) have their hands full filing complaints and lawsuits, mostly in the South, but all over the country. I read their monthly newsletter “religiously” and you would be amazed at how common this is. Keep up the fight for separation of church and state.</p>
<p>p.s. Imagine if this student had been Muslim, tore up his speech, and started reading from the Koran. There would not have been wild applause. There probably would have been a riot.</p>