After the Pickens County (South Carolina) School Board voted against prayer at school events and meetings, all in response to a barrage of threats from out-of-town atheists, Liberty High School Valedictorian Roy Costner IV veered off his "approved speech" at the graduation ceremony and prayed -- much to the approval of those in attendance.
For background at Pickens County, read School Bans Jesus from Prayers: Atheists Threaten
Also read Prayer at Kentucky Graduation Despite Atheists' Demands
However, Atheists Threaten Arkansas School, so Graduation is Cancelled
-- From "Valedictorian surprises graduation crowd, draws cheers" posted at KCRA-TV3 (NBC in Sacramento, CA) 6/5/13
John Eby, Pickens County School District spokesman, said, "They write their speeches. They send them to someone on staff to have them approved."
After speaking for a few minutes, he thanked his parents for leading him to the Lord at a young age, and then he said, "I think most of you will understand when I say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven…" as he began to recite the Lord's Prayer.
Costner finished, pointing his finger in the air for emphasis, saying, "For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen," followed by more cheers and applause.
Eby said, "From the ACLU sending FOIA requests to every district in the state this year after the Chesterfield County case, then the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent us a complaint about religion at board meetings and some other issues as well. That is why the reaction to the prayer at graduation was loud."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Valedictorian Rips Up Approved Speech on Stage, Recites Lord’s Prayer at Graduation" by Heather Clark, Christian News Network 6/4/13
“I think it took a lot of courage to do that,” attendee Logan Gibson told reporters. “People were [supportive] that he stood up for what he believed in.”
[John] Eby said that the district will not be taking any action against Costner.
“The bottom line is, we’re not going to punish students for expressing their religious faiths,” he stated. “He’s a graduate now. There’s nothing we can do about it, even if we wanted to.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Read about laws to bring prayer to schools in Texas, and Louisiana, and North Carolina, and Missouri, and Mississippi, and Florida, and Tennessee.
To understand why these laws are necessary, read Humanists Threaten Missouri School over Prayer and also read Atheists Threaten to Sue Every School in Mississippi and read about myriad attacks on Christians via public schools (see article list at bottom).
