Gilda

You made the claim that: "But there are many instances where students wanted to organize their own prayer, but one wackjob complains and the students aren't allowed."

I didn't ask for a thesis, I asked for a cite. Show me where this has happened, where students were prevented from praying or organizing a prayer. Note that in the cases that went to court, the issue wasn't praying, and it wasn't organizing, it was reading the prayer over the PA system at a football game. Requiring participation in a religious ceremony, in this case a prayer, as a prerequisite for viewing or playing in a game is imposing your religious views on others.

Preventing them from reading the prayer over the PA system doesn't, however, prevent them from praying.

There you are again, claiming that they're stopping prayer, while not citing any instances of this happening. Where and when did this happen?

And here's the thing: I agree with you. If school officials are preventing students from praying, that's wrong, and it shouldn't be allowed, and I'd join you in protesting that.

My views are entirely consistent, in that I oppose the imposition of one groups moral/religious views on another group, even if, being a Christian myself, I agree with that religious view. My interpretation of how that applies to these particular situations may be different from yours, but that does not make it inconsistent.

On another board a few months back, there was a discussion of the relationship between a person's view on capital punishment and on abortion rights, with accusations of hypocrisy flying back and forth. The thing is, depending upon the rationale used, any combination of positions on those two issues can be consistent. Pro-pro, anti-anti, anti-pro, and pro-anti can all be consistently rational positions. I agree with only one of those, but a person can have any combination of views there and still be entirely consistent.

Also, keep in mind that at a school play, the play itself is the reason people are in attendance. If they don't want to see the play, they don't have to go. No imposition on those who might object.

However, at a football game, or a graduation, or when read over the intercom during announcements, a prayer is an imposition. It imposes a religious ceremony on people who are in attendance for a separate purpose. People aren't there for the prayer, they're there for the event, and an extra requirement that is irrelevant to the main event is being imposed on them. Many, perhaps most, might agree with the sentiments expressed in the prayer. Being a Christian myself, I probably would. But by adding a religious element to an event which is non-religious in nature, it's imposing one groups religious beliefs on everyone in attendance.

Let them pray, and let them organize a prayer, sure, I have no problem with that. But don't require me to participate as a condition of attending a football game or my own graduation.

Gilda

__________________
I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that.

~Steven Colbert