Religious Coercion

Religious coercion

Editorial, The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), May 23, 2006

When Russell County High School held its graduation last week, Baptist minister Mark Lawless and several members of his congregation showed up with signs that advertised their religious convictions.

They were unhappy that a federal judge refused to let a student-chosen speaker, Megan Chapman, include a prayer in her opening remarks, as has been the practice for decades at the school's commencements.

A member of this year's senior class had objected to having someone else's religious views forced on him during the exercises, and the judge issued an order to prevent it. But, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Rev. Lawless charged it was "a travesty that a minority view could override a majority view" in such matters.

The real travesty is that Rev. Lawless believes majority rule should apply when it comes to matters of religion.

The student suspected of objecting to prayer at the Russell High graduation was booed during rehearsal. So much for loving one another and turning the other cheek. So much for protecting him from religious orthodoxy.

At the exercise itself, about 200 seniors interrupted the principal with a recitation of the Lord's Prayer. That was greeted with a standing ovation in the crowded gymnasium. The school superintendent said this showed the students had been successfully trained as "critical thinkers."

It's a shame they hadn't been better educated about American history and American government.

This country was founded by, among others, colonists who wanted to escape the tyranny of religious majorities. The Bill of Rights was written to protect the individual liberties of Americans from assaults by intrusive government, with the approval of political majorities.

Imposing religious conformity is not what the Founders had in mind. Neither is turning a public school ceremony into a religious exercise.

One can imagine the reaction of Protestant parents, had a student from another faith tradition (say, Catholic) subjected classmates to a non-Protestant devotion (say, the Rosary).

Fair Use Statement: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.