Graduation Prayer Initiative Launched

Liberty Counsel is distributing a Legal Memorandum On Graduation Prayers In Public Schools which suggests rather narrow interpretations of court prcedents banning prayer at graduation ceremonies. It says that public colleges and universities may invite clergy to deliver prayers at graduation ceremonies. In public middle, junior high and high schools, student or outside speakers chosen on neutral criteria can offer prayers, or make religious comments, if genuinely done on their own initiative. It also says that churches may sponsor baccalaureate services. Here is one interesting excerpt from the memo:

In [one] school, the valedictorian sneezed after giving the valedictory address. The students responded in unison, “God bless you.” Although this is a humorous way of acknowledging God during a ceremony, the Constitution does not require students to resort to such tactics in order to acknowledge God. When student speakers enter the podium during a graduation ceremony, they do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of expression, just like they do not shed this right when they enter the schoolhouse gate.

Last week, Liberty Counsel also announced that it was launching the "Friend or Foe Graduation Prayer Campaign" in cooperation with Dr. Jerry Falwell, the Founder and Chancellor of Liberty University. It will educate, and where necessary file suit, to vindicate speakers' right to deliver prayers or make religious comments at graduation ceremonies.