Once again Louisiana is the laughing stock of civil rights education.
Damon Fowler, a graduating senior at Bastrop High School, contacted Superintendent of Morehouse Parish Schools Tom Thrower and gave him an Intro to Civics refresher — school sponsored prayer isn’t kosher. It’s not only in poor taste, it’s a blatant violation of church and state.
Fowler threatened to contact the American Civil Liberties Union if the school system refused to make the constitutionally-required changes.
But the Constitution didn’t deter this Louisiana school. Laws? Screw that noise.
The school system agreed to change the invocation to a moment of silence, but like a gossiping woman in a beauty parlor, administration let “slip” the student’s name who challenged their God-given right to invoke a dead Jew in a high school graduation — and that’s when it got real.
Fowler was harassed and threatened by both students and, you’ll be surprised to hear, administration at the school. Even worse, his Christian family kicked him out, tried to separate him from his older brother and stigmatized him like the rest of the mob.
To be fair, Matthew 10:37 tells us Jesus comes before family. One should follow this command or face the penalty of becoming “unworthy.”
And maybe Fowler is unworthy. Bastrop High School teacher Mitizi Quinn told Bastrop Daily Enterprise, “We’ve never had this come up before. Never.” She kindly continued, “And what’s even more sad is this is a student who really hasn’t contributed anything to graduation or to their classmates.”
Nicely put, Quinn.
While she did get quite a bit of flak nationally for the comment, she might have been in the right here. Quinn justified her position by stating there had been atheist, agnostic and other non-Christian religion students who “had no problems” with the prayer.
In other words, it’s okay to violate constitutional law if enough people disagree with it. After all, God’s laws are higher than man’s.
Just ask believers like Deanna Laney, who in 2004 killed her two sons and crippled a third because God had told her the world would be ending soon and “she had to get her house in order.” She understood a “house in order” to include killing her children.
Easy mistake I guess. It could happen to anyone, and as Laney’s lawyer put it, “The dilemma she faced is a terrible one for a mother. Does she follow what she believes to be God’s will, or does she turn her back on God?”
Yeah, Laney was the one in a terrible situation there. I think we can all sympathize.
So, also not one to be deterred by silly laws, the student chosen for the moment of silence at the May 19 rehearsal explained that, while she respected those who did not share her beliefs, she would like to “give thanks to the God who has made the class of 2011 such a great success.” And then led the class in prayer anyway, amidst wild applause.
“Yay! Clap your hands if you couldn’t pass a civics test!”
Bastrop’s administration did not intervene, and though the prayer was unscheduled, it still occurred the next day at graduation.
The ACLU, Freedom From Religion Foundation and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State sent a letter to Bastrop High School on May 26 explaining why the school’s response was inadequate. Given the situation, they claimed, a school official would have been more appropriate to deliver the moment of silence.
Additionally, they recommended an apology to Fowler, a public statement to the community and students explaining the illegality of the matter and suggested the district consider disciplining the students involved in the prayer.
“This persistent culture will remain entrenched unless and until the school district takes at least some of the [these] actions,” the letter claimed.
Until then, Bastrop, please keep your prayer silent, like Jesus asked.
Devin Graham is a 22-year-old economics senior from Prairieville. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Dgraham.
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Contact Devin Graham at [email protected]