Munford High School Says No To ACLU’s Censorship

Posted on May 25, 2006

First it was Russel County Highschool in Kentucky, and now students at Munford County High School in Tennessee are not taking the ACLU’s censorship attempts lying down. Hopefully its an epidemic, and it is certainly an uplifting example on how to stand up for freedom when it is being threatened.

In the past, Munford High School graduations started with a student saying a prayer and ended with another student-led prayer.
But at Monday night’s commencement ceremony at Dr. Sid Witherington Stadium, due to intervention by the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the tradition was broken. A new twist was added with a group of prayer supporters picketing and a not-so-quiet moment of silence.

Munford principal Darry Marshall asked the 1,500-plus audience for that moment of silence so everyone could “reflect on what makes this day so special.”
Most of the audience stood, bowing their heads. Then, most of the 286 graduating seniors pulled out laminated bookmarks and folded up pieces of paper that they had been given earlier and began reciting “The Lord’s Prayer.” Students said beforehand that they knew that the moment of silence would be their chance to speak.

Once those in the audience realized what the students were doing, they broke into wild cheering as the silence in the football stadium was broken by the verses of the prayer.

“Please be seated,” Marshall told the crowd. “We appreciate the community’s support.”

“I think it’s awesome. They should have the right to do that. I can’t see how that can offend anybody,” said Tom Page, whose son was performing in the high school band.

Absolutely beautiful. Hat tip: blonde sagacity

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4 Responses to “Munford High School Says No To ACLU’s Censorship”

Moof on May 25th, 2006 10:04 am

This gives me faith in our youth … maybe they can stem the tide that we seem powerless against.
beervolcano on May 25th, 2006 3:07 pm

What if the students had started chanting Hare Krishna hare Krishna during the moment of “silence”? What if they had screamed Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar? Or just started reciting Hindu prayers to Vishnu? Would they have gotten the same response?
Jay on May 25th, 2006 3:16 pm

That is a good question beervolcano. In this hypothetical situation you are speaking of, if the majority of the students were Muslim for example, then the majority of the audience would most likely be Muslim as well…in which case they probably would have applauded as well.

The main point I want to make is that no matter what the religion, if they were being censored from expressing it, and they stood up to that…I don’t know about others…but I would applaud this as well.
kerwin_brown on May 26th, 2006 8:21 am

I tend to applaud those who stand up against oppression so the religion they express does not make much difference.