More fodder for discussion...
(Focus, people! Focus!)
THE PRINCIPAL OF CEDAR SHOALS HIGH SCHOOL IN ATHENS, GA HAS APOLOGIZED AFTER READING A POEM CALLED ``THE NEW SCHOOL PRAYER'' OVER THE SCHOOL'S INTERCOM. READING THE POEM BROUGHT COMPLAINTS FROM SOME PARENTS WHO SAID IT VIOLATED THE PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. CEDAR SHOALS PRINCIPAL TOMMY CRAFT SAID YESTERDAY THAT HE WANTED NOT TO PROMOTE RELIGION BUT TO PROVOKE THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION AMONG STUDENTS ABOUT THE CHANGING POLITICAL CLIMATE IN SCHOOL WHEN HE READ THE POEM LAST WEEK BEFORE THE THANKSGIVING BREAK. HE SAID THERE WAS NO ATTEMPT TO RIDICULE ANYBODY. THE POEM HAS CIRCULATED ON THE INTERNET SINCE AT LEAST 1992. IT IS WRITTEN IN THE RHYMING STYLE OF THE CHILDREN'S PRAYER THAT BEGINS ``NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP.'' IT REFERS TO PRAYER NOT BEING ALLOWED IN SCHOOL, ALTHOUGH STUDENTS CAN ``DRESS LIKE FREAKS, AND PIERCE OUR NOSES, TONGUES ANDCHEEKS'' OR ``ELECT A PREGNANT SENIOR QUEEN.'' THE POEM MENTIONS THE ABILITY TO GET CONDOMS AND BIRTH CONTROL, AS WELL AS STUDY ``WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRES AND TOTEM POLES'' BUT SAYS ``THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED, NO WORD OF GOD MUST REACH THIS CROWD.''
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Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.
Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.
We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen
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Randy