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- Path: sparky!uunet!olivea!hal.com!decwrl!csus.edu!netcom.com!adamsr
- From: adamsr@netcom.com (Rick Adams)
- Newsgroups: alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk
- Subject: Re: Limiting religious speech
- Message-ID: <r1_n37k.adamsr@netcom.com>
- Date: 21 Aug 92 19:16:21 GMT
- References: <4-hy-yq@rpi.edu> <UeYz6mS00XsEA6g0Vc@andrew.cmu.edu> <57411@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
- Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
- Lines: 36
-
- Thus spake bernman@symphony.cc.purdue.edu (Bernie Hoefer):
-
- > I thought the decision prevents SCHOOL OFFICIALS from
- >promoting prayer. A school official cannot ask that a prayer
- >be said.
- > However, does this decision not work both ways? If
- >a school official cannot promote a prayer, he or she cannot
- >discourage it, either. Would a valedictorian, in his or her
- >speech, be allowed to say a prayer or give thanks to his or her
- >god? Since the valedictorian is not a school official
- >(he or she not on the government's payroll) it would not be
- >a case of "government" promoting religion. But if the school
- >official tried to prevent the valedictorian from saying anything
- >about god in his or her speech, would not this ruling be
- >in favor of the valedictorian?
- >
- True.
-
- This is essentially the core of the decision. An *individual* who is
- *speaking* as an individual may certainly include a prayer in their address.
- What is *not* permissible, however is for any official of the institution to
- either recite or solicit the recitation of such a prayer - since such an act
- implys governmental sanction of the prayer.
-
- You, as an individual, are perfectly free to pray when you address a
- group, just as I, as an individual, am perfectly free to ignore your request
- that I participate in the prayer by bowing my head or in any other manner.
- If a school official makes the same request, otoh, it is an OFFICIAL request
- and less subject to being ignored. You are not being compensated for your
- prayer with my tax dollars - a school official is!
-
- --
- rick.adams on GEnie /|\ You are right from your side,
- adamsr@netcom.com / | \ And I am right from mine.
- adamsr@irie.ais.org \ /|\ / We're both just one too many mornings,
- adamsr@norwich.bitnet \|/ And a thousand miles behind. (c Bob Dylan)
-