Florida Graduations Can Be Held at Church

[donsu]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-graduation-church,0,3893641.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines


A federal judge ruled Wednesday that four public high schools can hold graduation ceremonies in a church and do not have to cover up the 16-foot cross in the sanctuary.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell refused to stop the ceremonies because the plaintiffs -- a student, her Buddhist father and an atheist parent who contend the use of Calvary Chapel in Melbourne violates the separation of church and state -- filed their case too late.

-snip-

Though he rejected a temporary restraining order, Presnell said the lawsuit against the school board could go forward.

"I don't necessarily approve of the school board's decision because it seems clear to me that a secular facility without these religious icons should have been chosen," he said.
-snip-
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give the religiously insane an inch............

[bunkerbuster1]

1. Something tells me if it'd be, say, a coupla Jewish folks

or even a coupla Muslims who'd objected, they might've had a shot with the US district judge.

But Buddhist? Whaaa, that ain't no real religion...

[asjr]

2. One World, One Religion. To hell with everyone else.

[sui generis]

3. and they're feeling "persecuted"

apologies to my moderate religious friends here but those people are freaks.

Hey hey hey, why don't we do a highschool graduation in a gay bar next or something. Now THAT would be a party. We could even arrange for them to all have buttless graduation gowns and really trendy hats.

:sarcasm:

[theboss]

4. Is there no other place to hold it?

I don't mind using church facilities for these sorts of things if it is the best facility and the event is secular in nature. Heck, when my dad's school was being remodeled, he used a church across the street to house his Kindergarten. But, what was the reason for using the church?

[teenagebambam]

5. Come on, now....

....I'm as fearful of the coming theocracy as the next person, but really. My sister's wedding reception was at the grange hall and nobody needed to have the John Deere signs taken down. If the cross has no meaning to you (as it shouldn't if you're a Buddhist or an atheist) then what objection to its presence could you have?

[yellowcanine]

7. How about if you are Jewish?

[yellowcanine]

6. Listen to the whiney fundy.....In addition, Calvary spokeswoman Melody

Glover said the church is giving the schools a DVD of their ceremonies for distribution to students and their families.

"We just want to help the graduates and make it a memorable ceremony for them," she said. "I feel sad that this has happened."

Amazing how when these fundies get caught with their hand in the cookie jar they always manage to act so innocent.

Let's see, they are getting $1,000 per school x 4 = $4,000 for renting the building which would otherwise be sitting empty. Yeah, they have the lights and maybe they turn the air conditioning up a couple of notches to accomodate the large crowds. Maybe they pay a couple hundred dollars to someone to clean the church afterward. So let's say it costs them a total of $500. That's $3500 free and clear and no tax on it. Pretty nice for a day's work if you can get it.