Oneida High School in Oneida, Tennessee ended prayers before athletic events because they were afraid of the possibility of lawsuits after pressure from the ACLU and atheist organizations like the Freedom From Religion foundation. So they stopped the usual broadcasting of the Lord's Prayer, otherwise known as Psalm 23 (written by King David) over the PA and substituted a 'moment of silence' instead.The school's decision didn't resonate well with the students and much of the community.
What happened next is simply heartwarming.
The next Friday night football game, the school's cheerleaders in a body used that 'moment of silence' to lead the assembled crowd and the athletes in Psalm 23.
“We need prayer for so many reasons especially in our community now and the troubles we face every day,” said junior Kayla King.
“During the moment of silence all the cheerleaders came together and recited the Lord's Prayer,” King explained.
Cheerleader Captain Ally Meyers said she was "emotional" when she learned that prayers could no longer be recited over the PA system. She said the cheerleaders decided to keep it going on their own, and the whole crowd joined in.
"Our community needs God in it, especially at football games. We pray for the safety of each and every player out there and the cheerleaders and the fans for the drive home," she said.
“In that moment the atmosphere was kind of great because it was nothing but heads bowed, and you heard the Lord's Prayer ring over the football field,” said King.
It must have been quite a moment.
And here's the irony. While the outside groups trying to impose their version of secular tyranny were looking to limit prayer, they had the opposite effect. Instead of one person reading Psalm 23 over the PA, there are now hundreds of people reciting it, and receiving an enhanced spiritual charge from a wonderful act of civil disobedience.
Contrary to what you've heard, there is no legally mandated 'separation' of religion and state, and that entire belief is based on a couple of highly questionable decisions from the ultra-Left Warren Court. But for those of you whom claim there is, here's a test.
If you think reading a Judeo-Christian prayer over a PA system at a non-mandatory school event is 'unconstitutional', do you feel the same way about the adhan, the Muslim call to prayer? That consists of a statement of Islam's superiority and other religion's inferior status broadcast publicly through PA systems at often earsplitting volume where people are forced to listen to it even if they are non-Muslims.
Funny thing...I haven't heard of any letters to mosques telling them to ditch broadcasting the adhan...not even so much as one threat of an ACLU lawsuit, have you? The muscular secularists at the ACLU or the Freedom From Religion Foundation seem to have plenty of courage when it comes to Judeo-Christian practices and institutions, but somehow they aren't lining up to file suits against mosques that are openly even more intrusive when it comes to broadcasting their religious beliefs in the public sphere.
If you're going to go after Oneida High School and not the mosques and their minarets, that is selective enforcement, a polite name for bigotry. It really is that simple.
