S
chool officials in Celina, Texas have not only decided to violate federal law but they have decided to flaunt their refusal to comply with constitutional rulings of the Supreme Court. The school continues to incorporate Christian prayers into its games. In a recent game, Celina coach Butch Ford said: “Our goal (against Liberty Hill) was to play with the joy of the Lord in our heart so we’d play excited all of the time, and we wouldn’t be down no matter what happened….” They might not be the only ones “excited all of the time” that they play.
What is fascinating is that school officials usually teach children that they must comply with the law. Yet, here the officials are telling students that it does not matter if the Constitution and the federal courts prohibit conduct: religious beliefs trump federal law.
The students clearly understand that the Celina is different: a self-exempted community that lives outside the requirements of the United States Constitution. Senior running back Troy McCartney noted “In our community we stress God and Jesus very, very much, and I’m very thankful to live in a community like that. I’ve never lived anywhere else in my life, but people who move in say there’s no other place like Celina. I’m very thankful to live where I live, have what I have and do what I do, and I just want to give all the glory and thanks to the Lord.”
After the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in 1999 that schools could not use games for sectarian prayers, the school reacted by openly defying the ruling, even having student wear t-shirts reading “Celina Bobcats Pray Before They Play.”
What if the officials believed that desegregation rulings would not apply to them? Would they be justified to exclude black players? Yet, city and school officials all supported this defiance of the law — a curious lesson for the students in their charge.
For the full story, click here.
mespo and Jill-
I’m glad you liked the story.
Wayne-
I agree. I can see how my comments looked like I supported that but I really don’t, at least not as a first resort, for contempt of court such as this.
There’s a great song, covered by the Dixie Chicks and written by one of the Robison boys called “Traveling Soldier” which describes Texas football and goes:
“One Friday night at a football game,
The anthem sung and the Lord’s Prayer sang
A man said folks would you bow your heads
For a list of local Vietnam dead”
… that brings home how likely widespread this stuff is in Texas and elsewhere in the Bible Belt. I live in Nebraska and frequently heard prayers at graduation and used to drive by a 10 commandments marker every day in front of the city hall.
As an ACLU supporter (and, at that time, unbaptized person who was occasionally reminded that I’d eventually burn in hell) I knew these things were likely all unlawful but always thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie, as I had to live in theses small towns too.
If selflessness is the basis for Christianity, wouldn’t the pious Celinans always let the other team win?
rcampbell,
To answer an earlier response of yours, our ‘dear Jill’ may reside in Ohio presently, but she is ‘Appalachian’ all the way.
Case in point…
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Jill 1, December 21, 2008 at 9:27 am
A Happy Solsitce to All:
“All invited to celebrate the rebirth of the parents of the cosmos in , primal mother Danu and sun god Bel.”
This is a great holiday, the return of the sun! YEAH!!!!
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Jill 1, September 6, 2008 at 9:17 am
I have to share what I learned last night concerning slightly malfunctioning toasters, microwave ovens, hair dryers, hillbillies and the FEDS at the:
Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (you guess the state)
This is a really cool place with a very large radio telescope. It’s so sensitive that federal agents have shown up at people’s houses within a 10 mile radius of the it to tell them to fix their toasters etc. so not to interfere with the operation of said scope.
Being of appalachian origin myself I have some sympathy for knocking on the doors of isolated homes in WVA. There have been no killin’s (at least none publically acknowledged).
http://www.gb.nrao.edu/gbt/
Jill…
You got my point and I appreciate that.
Every American now knows—from the direct evidence of the current collapse of our financial system—that the Republican’s ‘trickle-down economics’ is a fallacy and a complete failure. Likewise, trickle-down religious fanaticism–derived from Bush’s overbearings religious example–will remain alive-and-well until the Supreme Court also falsifies such religious crusader campaigns by enforcing the provisions of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The following excerpted quotes come from the ADL website that is an excellent resource for the Separation of Church and State explanations.
.adl.org/issue_religious_freedom/separation_cs_primer_schools.asp
“By maintaining the wall separating church and state, we can guarantee the continued vitality of religion in American life.”
“Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black best expressed the purpose and function of the Establishment Clause when he said that it rests “on the belief that a union of government and religion tends to destroy government and degrade religion.”
“Public school teachers rightly function as important authority figures in the lives of their students. But, under the Constitution, their authority may not extend to matters of religious belief. According to the Supreme Court, the First Amendment requires that public school students never be given the impression that their school officially sanctions religion in general or prefers a specific faith in particular. Further, students must never feel coerced by peer or public pressure into adhering to the dictates of any religion.”
rafflaw,
It is interesting that the adults are CERTAIN they are teaching these kids to stand up for what is right. There is nothing right about what they are teaching. There are many christians in favor of seperation of church and state, and perhaps some of them could go there for a forum. I don’t think people in this town hear anything other than one party pablum.
David,
That was a good analogy to show your point. I’m sure there are people in the town who do not agree, but they could be risking a great deal to speak up.
waynebro and litzell,
I think you both came up with good ideas to address this problem.
Butch Ford? With a name like that he must be a gay male porn star.
Perhaps other schools could insist that they will not host them if they plan to break the law while on their property. No more away games. Could citizens in other towns sue to set that in motion?
I’m not so sure arresting these teachers and principal would be a good way to go, just for the visual image of carting otherwise good people and good teachers etc off in handcuffs. We have enough bad press already. But like others I can’t see how we can ignore a Constitutional violation like this.
I’d cut off funding to the school until they complied. Still wouldn’t make great press but it would be better than the video image of the school leaders being hauled off to jail.
RCampbell,
I agree with Jill that your description of the damage that Bush’s flaunting of the rule of law has done to some in our society. That is why the Obama administration must take steps to hold any and all lawbeakers accountable for their actions. These Cellini, Texas kids are learning a lesson. Unfortunately, it is that all laws should fail when they allege religious beliefs. I hope that some real adults teach them what the United States Constitution says and that they learn it before it is too late for them.
Davi:
Wonderful example of oppression and prejudice hidden by failure to acknowledge its presence. We’ve all had clients like yours who refuse to accept the Judge’s ruling. We usually end up discussing their case from 2-4 p.m. on weekdays through bullet proof glass.
I once travelled to the Soviet Union with a group of students. One student, now a lawyer, was in a wheelchair and we carried him everywhere, even on the escalators, since there were no accommodations for wheelchairs available. People stared at us intently and the only wheelchair I saw besides my friend’s, was in the back to a truck.
In short, there were no handicapped people visible, thus no one had to consider their rights. They just stayed at home.
I guess that’s a little like non-Christians in this Texas town. They aren’t known because they have to stay at home. If they speak, they feel “God’s wrath” in the form of people whose Christianity consists not of praying for your enemies or emulating the Beatitudes but in praying to “kick the crap out of the other team in the name of God.”
It’s like I told my juvenile client last week when he said he was going to blow off the judge’s orders: that’s a choice that you have the freedom to make, but if you make it, the judge is going to take away your freedom by putting you in the Youth Center the next time we’re back in court.”
They can violate the Court’s order- and some politicians will gladly use the school to endear themselves in the community while railing against this order- but they risk ending up in what Spongebob once called “the stony lonesome.”
mespo,
No, but I do have some beautiful deer antlers with a giant sun between the tines!
Sally,
No one here is saying a person or group of people should not be proud of being christian. What we are saying is that religion should not be brought into secular, pluralistic situations such as football games taking place at a public school. Not everyone believes in christianity and it isn’t either moral or constitutional to force another person to participate in religion. I also have to wonder, although this has nothing to do with the Constitution, why anyone would pray to god for a sports win. In the scheme of things this seems like a strange request for a diety. As the other team is also praying for a win from the diety and someone will lose, what is god up to?
rcampbell,
That was an excellent analysis of the state of our society.
Jill:
Do you have your shiny aluminnum “Sun Tree” up an decorated yet?
Here’s an interesting comment from one of the players from the article:
“”We’re all Christians on this team,” said junior inside linebacker Caleb Lavey. “It helps us come together. We really get to know each other. I love everybody on my team. I play my heart out for each individual, and I expect the same for everyone else.”
All Christians, eh? Well what else could you be? And isn’t that the point of the Courts ruling?
A Happy Solsitce to All:
“All invited to celebrate the rebirth of the parents of the cosmos in , primal mother Danu and sun god Bel.”
This is a great holiday, the return of the sun! YEAH!!!!
Sally:
I keep that in mind the next time I see drivers blowing stop signs under some pretext that God didn’t want them to stop. You either respect the rule of law or you don’t. Everyone has a “good” reason to ignore the laws with which they disagree. I hear your philosophy prevails rather nicely in Mogadishu.
I know I’m going to tick a lot of people off when I say this but….
GOOD FOR THEM!!!! I think it’s great!! These people are proud to be Christians!! More power to them to stand up for what they believe is right!!
Let’s talk Bush’s legacy. The examples of selective adherence to US law are by the Bush administration are many, in fact legendary. The folks in Celina have watched their self-proclaimed Christian President order subordinates to ignore lawful subpeonas, for instance. They’ve seen dozens of signing statement which allow the administration to simply ignore the very legisslation he’s signing. We’ve all seen the President admit in public that he defiantly ignored FISA. The Vice-President has recently admitted ignoring US laws on torture and outing Valerie Plame. Who can blame them for believing that if they’re Christians they can do as they please? In their minds, their big book trumps that measly old piece of parchment called the Constitution every day. Hey, it’s worked for the White House.
When Clinton left office there was much consternation about his “legacy” being tied to a lossening of sexual mores by what constituted adultery or having “…sex with that women…”.
Let’s review. One legacy may have contributed to an uptick in philandering or perhaps even in divorce. The other provides cover for the folks from Celina to ignore US laws. Since we are a nation of laws, we should be righteously indignant that this President’s legacy has the potential to be the very collapse of the nation.
Bush and fellow Republicans fostered this defiance. One of the scariest moments for me during the campaign was when preachers across the nation announced to the public that they would unabashedly be supporting McCain/Palin during their sermons, even at the risk of losing their tax statuses. This kind of religious zeal is no better than the fanaticism Republicans claim we need to fear.
Sheer Progress
http://www.sheerprogress.com