Prayer

The battle is still being fought. Known as the Bible Belt, the South is enveloped in a dogmatic atmosphere that hangs in the air like the humidity. Just yesterday, a friend said to me, "Religion takes otherwise independent, free spirited people & corrupts their being for power & control." Nothing new here. He added that organized, denominational religion is as Karl Marx coined, "The opium of the masses."

A delicate subject this, in any venue. The catalyst for our moment on the topic was just a common bumper sticker seen frequently in the Pensacola, Florida area that reads, "Pray for our schools, we are one nation under God." Prayer in public schools? In this country? Don't First Amendment guarantees protect us? The fight continues.

My good friend is a son of the South. He kids me about my Yankee heritage. Born & raised in New England, I'm a damn Yankee. The difference between a Yankee in the South & a damn Yankee is that a damn Yankee never went home. I own the moniker.

As a teenager learning about Darwin, evolution, the Scopes Monkey Trial & basic civil rights & liberties, I took it for granted that the issue of prayer in school was put to rest. Never once was a prayer uttered - the Pledge of Allegiance yes, prayer no. Not so in the South.

Recently in Pace, Florida, a small town just east of Pensacola, the principal of the Pace High School was under fire for supporting students who wanted to pray openly at school events. Not a moment of silence, not an inter-faith "blessing." Make no mistake about it, I'm talking about Christian prayer, damn me if I'm wrong.

Please don't get me wrong, either. My friend is involved with his family in church activities and scouting. For him, the social milieu provides an important link to the community, and even, perhaps, a bit of "spiritual" guidance. I, too, feel that churches are important this way.

Y'all should know that I was baptized as an infant in the Episcopal Church & raised in a traditional, Yankee conservative, republican home. Although I consider myself liberal minded, I am a firm supporter of States rights & individual freedoms. Community solidarity is important as long as it does not violate the spirit of the law, if not it's letter.

In 2009 the Pace High School principal and former school superintendent were named in an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of two students, & ordered to stop prayer. In August of that year the principal and athletic director faced criminal contempt charges for continuing prayer during school functions.

Also that year a bill was introduced in the State Legislature:

"The bill would prohibit school districts in the future from entering into an agreement "that infringes or waives the rights or freedoms afforded to instructional personnel, school staff, or students by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.""-PNJ

In April, 2010 the Florida Senate OK'd the bill:

"With blistering criticism for civil libertarians and some harsh words about the "overreaching" religious climate in Northwest Florida schools, a Senate panel today overwhelmingly approved a watered-down school prayer bill."-PNJ

June, 2010 brought school graduations across the land. Reginald Dogan, editorial staff, Pensacola News Journal opined in his column titled, "God Don't Like Ugly":

"It’s too late for the class of 2010, but maybe Pace High School will listen now to reason and move its graduation to a safe, dry place away from the threat of the storms of nature, called an "act of God."
It's worthy of consideration. Maybe they ought to pray about it. But for God’s sake and the law of the court, do it at home, in a church or in a closet."-PNJ

And the fight goes on. I don't need to point out what my sister said to me this month, "Religion is the stuff of wars." Is that not what's happening in the world today? And leading the charge is the United States of America.

God bless us, & I do mean that seriously, for there is a power that penetrates every molecule, every atom of our being, every scrap of matter throughout the Universe, binding us together from the instant of the Big Bang(creation) until we get sucked into a Black Hole(eternity).

I am saved as we and all things are. We live together, it would be nice if we could really live together, "Give peace a chance."-J.L.