High school student successfully sues her school to remove a religious prayer banner

[Korey]

Judge Orders Prayer Banner Removed


Federal judge orders 'immediate' removal of Cranston school prayer mural; appeal unlikely

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The high school student who sought the removal of a prayer mural from the auditorium at Cranston High School West has won her suit in federal court.

U.S. District Court Judge Ronald R. Lagueux, in a 40-page ruling issued Wednesday on the lawsuit filed by Jessica Ahlquist's father, Mark Ahlquist, has ordered the "immediate" removal of the prayer mural, although he has given Cranston school officials 10 days to respond.

Jessica Ahlquist Has Won Her Lawsuit! - a lot of background info here.

When Jessica saw that banner over a year ago, she knew there was something wrong. She created a Facebook page to rally support to bring it down. For that, she was insulted and threatened by students and strangers. When the ACLU planned to file a lawsuit to bring the banner down, Jessica wanted to be the plaintiff.

In interview after interview after interview, I’ve been struck by how mature, well-spoken, and courageous Jessica has proven to be. Most adults don’t have those traits, much less a 16-year-old.

She’s proven to be a leader, standing up for what she believes is right, despite the overwhelming number of people in her high school who have tried (unsuccessfully) to make her life a living hell for what she’s done.

The 40-page decision

The Court rules that Plaintiff [Ahlquist] has standing in this matter and rules in her favor on the merits of this dispute. The Court also orders the immediate removal of the Prayer Mural from the auditorium at Cranston West.

...

No amount of debate can make the School Prayer anything other than a prayer, and a Christian one at that. Its opening, calling upon the “Heavenly Father,” is an exclusively Christian formulation of a monotheistic deity, leaving out, inter alia, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and atheists alike. The Prayer concludes with the indisputably religious closing: “Amen;” a Hebrew word used by Jews, Christians and Muslims to conclude prayers. In between, the Prayer espouses values of honesty, kindness, friendship and sportsmanship. While these goals are commendable, the reliance on God’s intervention as the way to achieve those goals is not consistent with a secular purpose. Nonetheless, the Prayer Mural has hung on the auditorium wall for the last forty-six-odd years, all the while taking on the mantel of history and tradition.

...

The Court refrains from second-guessing the expressed motives of the Committee members, but nonetheless must point out that tradition is a murky and dangerous bog. While all agree that some traditions should be honored, others must be put to rest as our national values and notions of tolerance and diversity evolve. At any rate, no amount of history and tradition can cure a constitutional infraction. The Court concludes that Cranston’s purposes in installing and, more recently, voting to retain the Prayer Mural are not clearly secular.

...

Plaintiff is clearly an articulate and courageous young woman, who took a brave stand, particularly in light of the hostile response she has received from her community.

The banner:

Awesome news! The more we can push religion out of our lives and into the churches, the better. I applaud this young lady for standing up for a secular society, even in the midst of all the hate and threats she received for doing so. She has made the world a better place and has a bright future ahead of her.

 

[Kosmo]

What a horrendous message to be teaching our children!

/s

 

[nomis]

gervais_merchant_highfive.gif

 

[SnakeXs]

Good for her, good for the justice system.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Nice.

 

[filler]

Good, keep religion out of school.

 

[dallow_bg]

Looks old. I wouldn't have minded it if it was part of school history.

If it was something they had recently installed, I would mind.

 

[foodtaster]

bets on how many weeks this kid has until "something happens?" silly lawsuit imo. should've just sued to get rid of "heavenly father," "amen" and "school prayer." It has a good message

 

[Orayn]

Excellent. Keep that stuff out of the schools, 'kaythanks.

 

[Hawkian]

gervais_merchant_highfive.gif

need to see this gif please

I hope she wins.

i have some good news for you

 

[Escape Goat]

Amen


I mean good job.

 

[Tears For Fears]

Good. No place for such a thing.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

"threatened..."

 

[Guevara]

Can't believe students still have to sue over this bullshit in 2012.

 

[Orayn]

i have some good news for you

You caught me. I'm gonna say an Act of Contrition and a few Hail Marys now, just like in the good old days of attending a Catholic elementary and middle school.

Can't believe students still have to sue over this bullshit in 2012.

It's no surprise that the youngest generation are the least tolerant to this nonsense, but yeah, it's sad that so few adults in a position of power care.

 

[Pollux]

There really isn't anything in that prayer that's objectionable other than "Our Heavenly Father" and "Amen" So would y'all be OK with leaving the rest of the mural up and taking out those two lines?

 

[Trent Strong]

Good for her.

 

[threenote]

Atheists are embarrassing me.

 

[Count Dookkake]

There really isn't anything in that prayer that's objectionable other than "Our Heavenly Father" and "Amen" So would y'all be OK with leaving the rest of the mural up and taking out those two lines?

Who then would be doing the "grant[ing]"?

Atheists are embarrassing me.

Some of us don't have the stomach for appeasement.

 

[lush]

Looks old. I wouldn't have minded it if it was part of school history.

Agree with this. Then again, I would firmly place myself on the "who the fuck cares?" platform. Obviously someone....

Honestly though, what's the motivation behind an action like this?

 

[Kosmo]

There really isn't anything in that prayer that's objectionable other than "Our Heavenly Father" and "Amen" So would y'all be OK with leaving the rest of the mural up and taking out those two lines?

Pretty much this. It doesn't say "Give us your strength..." or anything like that. You really have to look to be offended if this is something that you think this indoctrination. Then again:

When asked about the Prayer, she said that the
Prayer was not offensive and that its message was a positive one.
She continued, “Yeah, I’m not offended by it, but you can’t –
can’t violate the Constitution.”

I look forward to her lawsuit against Obama for signing the NDA.

 

[jchap]

Change Prayer to Motto, Cover up our heavenly father and amen. /case closed

 

[Phoenix]

There really isn't anything in that prayer that's objectionable other than "Our Heavenly Father" and "Amen" So would y'all be OK with leaving the rest of the mural up and taking out those two lines?

On GAF all things religion are bad and should therefore be removed from existence.

 

[Foxy Fox 39]

uh huh...

 

[Satch]

Change Prayer to Motto, Cover up our heavenly father and amen. /case closed

Yeah, that's how I feel about it too. :lol

 

[computers putin']

this is really.....petty.

 

[dallow_bg]

Change Prayer to Motto, Cover up our heavenly father and amen. /case closed

Pretty much.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Agree with this. Then again, I would firmly place myself on the "who the fuck cares?" platform. Obviously someone....

Honestly though, what's the motivation behind an action like this?

I will also like to know. The American fascination for distinguishing religious and non-religious is one of things that have surprised me the most since I moved to the US.

 

[Trent Strong]

On GAF all things religion are bad and should therefore be removed from existence.

Christianity shouldn't be promoted in public schools that are funded by the government.

 

[MisterHero]

The debate should have happened but it's resulting in the demoting of free exchange of ideas in school.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Agree with this. Then again, I would firmly place myself on the "who the fuck cares?" platform. Obviously someone....

Honestly though, what's the motivation behind an action like this?

To respect the law.

To protect young minds from nefarious influence.

To remove from religion its illusion of untouchability.

There's probably others, too.

 

[daycru]

Public school. Flash the cash for Jesus High if the Lord's words are so important to you.

 

[ajf009]

I'm not religious.. but that banner was nothing but positive thoughts and ideas... whats the problem?


OH GOD IT SAYS AMEN!!

 

[delta25]

Whats the big fucking deal? Did it hurt her, is her life ruined, did she get aids from reading it, was she forced to read it every morning before class? I cant imagine the amount of money wasted to get it taken down.

Fucking deal with it. Any background info on the girl?

 

[GrizzNKev]

The debate should have happened but it's resulting in the demoting of free exchange of ideas in school.

This isn't an exchange of ideas within the school. This was something made and maintained by the school, and clearly unconstitutional. This was not a matter of opinion.

 

[Kosmo]

Christianity shouldn't be promoted in public schools that are funded by the government.

Just Christianity, or all religions? Should we have prayer rooms for Muslim children? Allow students to miss for Rosh Hashanah or Good Friday?

This isn't an exchange of ideas within the school. This was something made and maintained by the school, and clearly unconstitutional. This was not a matter of opinion.

Mottos on your money are unconstitutional - please PM me and you can send it to me.

 

[Quick]

Of all the things to sue for...god damn it.

It's terrible for people to make her life "a living hell," but seriously, this isn't a big deal. I can understand if the school forced her to recite the prayer or something, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

There really isn't anything in that prayer that's objectionable other than "Our Heavenly Father" and "Amen" So would y'all be OK with leaving the rest of the mural up and taking out those two lines?

Change Prayer to Motto, Cover up our heavenly father and amen. /case closed

 

[Escape Goat]

Just Christianity, or all religions? Should we have prayer rooms for Muslim children? Allow students to miss for Rosh Hashanah or Good Friday?

...

 

[Orayn]

On GAF all things religion are bad and should therefore be removed from existence.

Who claimed this? Oh right, nobody.

Just Christianity, or all religions? Should we have prayer rooms for Muslim children? Allow students to miss for Rosh Hashanah or Good Friday?

I think those are pretty reasonable accommodations if there's some plan in place for the students to make up the missed work on those days. Better yet, have them turn it in early.

 

[Trent Strong]

Just Christianity, or all religions? Should we have prayer rooms for Muslim children? Allow students to miss for Rosh Hashanah or Good Friday?



Mottos on your money are unconstitutional - please PM me and you can send it to me.

All religions, of course.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Yeah there should separation of church and state ,but this seems like a very small thing to get uppity about. I know I wouldn't care as its hardly a big deal, but whatever. Hey, if you want to take up arms about every small thing then cool.

 

[FunkyMunkey]

Awesome news! The more we can push religion out of our lives and into the churches (where they can apparently ignore the law and discriminate against their employees freely), the better. I applaud this young lady for standing up for a secular society, even in the midst of all the hate and threats she received for doing so. She has made the world a better place and has a bright future ahead of her.

I love the OP cramming in this at the end. Yes, making the entire world a better place for removing a banner in a school with an entirely positive message in it, because it contained 3-4 words that are connected to religion. And this is instead of altering the banner to remove the religious connotations.

Who claimed this? Oh right, nobody.

Have you stumbled into any thread here even remotely pertaining to anything religious? I mean, even a topic with a microscopic speck of religious connection will be pounced on and reamed.

 

[Dega]

These stories always make me laugh. At my high school we had a bible class that students could take. I liked that class

 

[Slavik81]

Just Christianity, or all religions?

All.

Should we have prayer rooms for Muslim children?

No.

Allow students to miss for Rosh Hashanah or Good Friday?

Yes. With parental approval, students should be allowed to occasionally miss a day of school.

 

[Orayn]

Whats the big fucking deal? Did it hurt her, is her life ruined, did she get aids from reading it, was she forced to read it every morning before class? I cant imagine the amount of money wasted to get it taken down.

Fucking deal with it. Any background info on the girl?

No religion in publicly funded shit and no magic tricks in church.

These stories always make me laugh. At my high school we had a bible class that students could take. I liked that class

Nothing wrong with elective classes about great works of fiction.

 

[GrizzNKev]

Mottos on your money are unconstitutional - please PM me and you can send it to me.

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

 

[woolley]

Why to waste time and money. Does it really matter if that's in the school? The sign isn't hurting anyone, it should've been fine to stay there.

 

[Count Dookkake]

These stories always make me laugh. At my high school we had a bible class that students could take. I liked that class

Posts like these make me laugh, because they display a lack of understanding between the discussion of a subject and the endorsement of subject.

 

[Kosmo]

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

In GOD we Trust

 

[MisterHero]

This isn't an exchange of ideas within the school. This was something made and maintained by the school, and clearly unconstitutional. This was not a matter of opinion.

But the discussion or expression of religious (or not religious) affiliation is going to happen whether or not the sign is there. Putting a rule over those possible future instances is doing just that.

The students are going to face even more of these stances when they graduate and go into the world. If anything the school should prepare these students to not sweat the small stuff (like a lawsuit over a well-meaning banner) and focus on real problems.