Abbey Marie
05-15-2013, 10:46 AM
Another one bites the dust. If the school cursed the fleet, it probably wouldn't be a problem in these folks' eyes. Regarding this "misinterpretation" of the 1st Amendment, is reading comprehension really getting this bad? Or is it Christianphobia? Hmmm.
SOUTH BRISTOL, Maine — South Bristol Elementary School eighth-graders
will launch their handmade skiffs next month without the traditional
“blessing of the fleet” after a letter from Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State informed the school that student involvement with the historic maritime ceremony violated the First Amendment.
For 16 years, eighth-grade students at the school have visited Maine
Maritime Museum in Bath every Friday during the school year to build
small wooden row boats. Each June, they launch them at Bittersweet
Landing, accompanied by a blessing by a pastor from the Union
Congregational Church of South Bristol.
This year, the June 4 ceremony will be without the traditional
prayer. Instead, a community member will give a “ceremonial launch
speech” followed by the traditional smashing of a bottle over the bow,
Principal Scott White wrote in a May 9 memo to staff.
Last year, the organization, whose mission is to preserve the
separation of church and state, received a complaint about a prayer at
the school’s ceremony. In December a lawyer for the organization sent
the school a letter saying the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
prohibits public schools from sponsoring prayers at events.
“Please ensure that future school-sponsored ceremonies do not include
prayers or other religious content,” the letter stated, adding that
even if attendance at the launch was voluntary, prayer would still be
prohibited.
White said that “we would absolutely allow students not to go if they
felt uncomfortable,” but that the issue has never come up in the seven
years he’s been at South Bristol Elementary School.
The school’s law firm, Drummond Woodsum, and the Maine School
Management Association determined that the blessing “could be construed
as a prayer. A pastor gives it, and passages in the blessing mention God
and ‘Amen,’ and she does ask people to bow their heads, but it is
certainly very nonsecular,” White said.
...
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/05/13/news/midcoast/elementary-schools-blessing-of-the-fleet-canceled-for-violating-first-amendment/
SOUTH BRISTOL, Maine — South Bristol Elementary School eighth-graders
will launch their handmade skiffs next month without the traditional
“blessing of the fleet” after a letter from Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State informed the school that student involvement with the historic maritime ceremony violated the First Amendment.
For 16 years, eighth-grade students at the school have visited Maine
Maritime Museum in Bath every Friday during the school year to build
small wooden row boats. Each June, they launch them at Bittersweet
Landing, accompanied by a blessing by a pastor from the Union
Congregational Church of South Bristol.
This year, the June 4 ceremony will be without the traditional
prayer. Instead, a community member will give a “ceremonial launch
speech” followed by the traditional smashing of a bottle over the bow,
Principal Scott White wrote in a May 9 memo to staff.
Last year, the organization, whose mission is to preserve the
separation of church and state, received a complaint about a prayer at
the school’s ceremony. In December a lawyer for the organization sent
the school a letter saying the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
prohibits public schools from sponsoring prayers at events.
“Please ensure that future school-sponsored ceremonies do not include
prayers or other religious content,” the letter stated, adding that
even if attendance at the launch was voluntary, prayer would still be
prohibited.
White said that “we would absolutely allow students not to go if they
felt uncomfortable,” but that the issue has never come up in the seven
years he’s been at South Bristol Elementary School.
The school’s law firm, Drummond Woodsum, and the Maine School
Management Association determined that the blessing “could be construed
as a prayer. A pastor gives it, and passages in the blessing mention God
and ‘Amen,’ and she does ask people to bow their heads, but it is
certainly very nonsecular,” White said.
...
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/05/13/news/midcoast/elementary-schools-blessing-of-the-fleet-canceled-for-violating-first-amendment/