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Summarized by Rosemary Pollock
School Prayer Protest To Be Held Tomorrow in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Utah students and supporters of school prayer
will gather for early morning prayer at many Salt Lake Valley high
school and junior high school campuses on Wednesday for a "See You at
the Pole" event. Early morning flagpole prayer meetings have been
held for more than a decade and participants are maintaining the
middle ground between religious freedom and church-and-state by
meeting at 7 a.m. before classes begin.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June barring the Santa Fe, Texas school
district from allowing student prayer before football games. The case was
brought before the courts by a Mormon and a Catholic family who were
challenging prayers before high school football games. "My clients are
Catholic and Mormon, and they're not against prayer," said ACLU attorney
Dough Leacock, who argued for the two annonymous Texas families. "What they
are against is having prayer imposed on their children."
The Rev. Todd Liston, a youth pastor at Salt Lake City's Southeast Baptist
Church is a spokesman for the "See You at the Pole" event. "That [the Santa
Fe, Texas event] and our event are completely different. Ours is entirely
voluntary, student run, student initiated. I wouldn't support forcing
anyone to pray," he said.
School officials see no problem with the meetings. "In this case, they
are not using district microphones to [pray], and it is not a school event,
which a football game is. They also aren't using class time," said Martin
Bates who is the policy and compliance officer for Granite School District.
Salt Lake City School District spokesman David Green agreed adding, "It's
a protected right for the students, as long as it's not school or district
sponsored." Gatherings are brief and happen before students break to
attend classes.
The event is multi-denominational with dozens of Utah congregations. The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not sponsor the event.
"LDS kids are welcome, too; we don't exclude anyone," said Liston. "The
idea is to let students know that this is your school, and if anything is
going to happen there [spiritually], it will be God moving through you guys
taking the initiative," Liston added.
Source:
Utah Students To Gather for School Prayer
Salt Lake Tribune 16Sep00 N1
http://www.sltrib.com:80/09162000/saturday/22638.htm
By Bob Mims: Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune 16Sep00 N1
By Bob Mims: Salt Lake Tribune
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