Opinion: Prayer at Graduation
A huge controversy today, prayer at graduation… a huge controversy that is affecting my school today. The biggest counter-argument for this is that if it is student-led it is considered safe and okay to do.
However, this is wrong: Any type of prayer in a public school events considered mandatory are not okay, against the law and violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
We, as seniors, must attend graduation to get our diploma and graduate from high school. Students, staff, and family members of students should not have to feel obligated to pray or be involved in a prayer at an event that we are required to go to. We are not at graduation for religious aspects; we are there to celebrate a huge life event after working hard twelve years to get there. Religion should not be involved.
Please understand that I’m frustrated because I go to a public school that is heavily influenced by religion, please understand my frustration. Since Licking Valley High School has had issues with religion in the recent past, this makes me question if they even care about how it is portraying our school.
If I wanted to practice or be influenced by a religion, I would have went to a private school such as Newark Catholic. Two years ago our school, started prayers before football games, and received a letter from the FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation) showing their concern. Within two weeks, when our marching band put out shirts saying “salvation.” This incident received the attention of Fox News and Mr. Hile was interviewed by them.
The point of this is not to hate on people who do have religious beliefs. In no way whatsoever is that the point of this. We would not hate on you, just as much as we expect you to not hate on us for what we think or believe in. If everybody thought, did, or believed in the same things, we would have a pretty boring world if we were all the same.
There's a way to respectfully disagree with somebody. I hope that people who do have a religious belief-system come to understand that to us without one, this situation makes us uncomfortable. At a ceremony where I, as a senior, am supposed to be honored for the hard work I put in, and that the focus is taken away from that for a religious practice does not feel right to me. I will have to sit there at my graduation and feel left out, for something that is unconstitutional in the first place. I should not have to feel this way.
For people who this means a lot to, I am happy for you. I am happy that you get the time to look up to something that means a lot to you; but please understand where we are coming from also. In a school where everybody goes to church together, where some of my teachers are pastors, where we put up crosses everywhere, and have teachers teach religion to us. I think it needs to end here because everybody is too scared to speak up. In this school where I have been called names and verbally attacked for speaking on what I feel, I think there needs to be a change.
