Comments on: Lawsuit Stops Organized Baccalaureate Services At Northview; School Turns To Community For Help

By: casey wooten

casey wooten — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:43:55 +0000

i am sorry this happend our prayers are with both families casey wooten

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:28:05 +0000

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven………………….

Matt. 10:32

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:04:17 +0000

Jewish neighbor,

I regret that my opinion of the established voluntary Baccalaureate service is offensive to you. Your freedom of religion is important to me. You noted that in history your people were persecuted by Nazis. I understand that the Nazis were atheist socialist. History of the ACLU seems to also reflect the views of atheist socialist. Here’s a quote from their founder Rodger Baldwin, “I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control of those who produced the wealth: communism is the goal.” I think that all of us could agree that we are against that objective.

By: Jack Moran

Jack Moran — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:09:21 +0000

Perhaps it is the Escambia County School District that is being a bit reactionary or even a bit fear-based here. I am not so sure that the case of the Baccalaureate Service at North View fits the same model as the recently famous court decision in Santa Rosa County.

I am certainly no attorney, much less a judge; but I read recently about a 1969 US Supreme Court Decision ( Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District), about students First Amendment Rights being upheld – and it confuses me — but then I am old and easily confused.

Someone help me out here; Is a Baccalaureate Service considered to be under the protection of a1st Ammendment decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, or is it “any policy or practice that promotes prayer or religion . . .” as viewed by a lower court?

Makes me go “Hmmmmmmmmm”?

By: senior

senior — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:50:00 +0000

i am a senior at northview and recently did a position paper on church and state, where i showed situations that are far worse than a VOLUNTARY baccalaureate service. i think this is ridiculous, but i am extremely proud of the way our class is handling it and know that our service will probably be the best yet.

By: a.nicole

a.nicole — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:03:02 +0000

It is sad when our Seniors who are only 17 or 18 years old act more mature about this issue then our adults! This is not about grammar, spelling, or even when laws were or were not established. This is about our kids and we need to be coming up with solutions to help them. Our seniors are trying to figure out solutions and they need our help! They are not sitting around wondering when this law was written, or who started it, or how to spell legal terminology. I came up with renting the gym for the event… does anyone have any other ideas?!?

By: ab

ab — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:55:54 +0000

Oh crap, I just noticed some punctuation errors in my post. Hope I make it to heaven!

By: ab

ab — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:47:34 +0000

Observer, I totally agree with you and with Religious Freedom. I am a Christian and I do not attend church in my community because they seem to be full of “holier than thou”people . And yes, they are judgemental. This service should have been held in a church a long time ago. That is where it belongs, just like all other religious functions. We don.t go to school to have church, we go to school to learn. If you are firm in your faith you would’nt need to voice your prayers out loud. A prayer, unless you want to make it public in church, is a private matter between you and God. Not for you to make others feel like they are somehow not as good of a person as you are. Like some who have posted on this website. This community needs to clean up around their own back porches before they preach to others. And how childish to point out someone’s mispelled words! Or, are you just being a “good Christian”?

By: Alan Bell

Alan Bell — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:39:15 +0000

Chuck – I just picked up on the last misspelled word in your post. You haven’t spelled amendment right yet. And for the record, the word is rebuttal.

It is a common mistake to point out other’s flaws and not see our own.

The phrase “separation of church and state” is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists, where Jefferson spoke of the combined effect of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. It has since been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court. In other words, it has become a part of our laws by judicial precedent (also known as “case law”).

I hope this rebuttal is sufficient.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:31:04 +0000

Alan… I’ve noticed that when people don’t have a decent rebutal to a post the resort to spelling corrections and for the record I misspelled separation the second time also. I’m surprised it was missed. The point of my post was to show that a few people need to read up on their ammendment rights and not regurgitate what thay have heard. I was judging no-one , simply calling for a few to do alittle background work. Sorry if you were offended.