Graduation Censorship in West Ottowa, MI

Another case where a student's own heart-felt words in a commencement valedictory address are not allowed because the have a religious thought. The student was asked to share a “life lesson” in his words. After seeing the draft, the principal wanted the student to take out any reference to the Bible.

The reason stated for this discrimination is the so-called "separation of church and state" that some feel is the main theme of the First Amendment. As a reminder, those words are not in the First Amendment. The Amendment does prohibit Congress from making a law respecting an establishment of religion. It also prohibits the government from getting in the way of freedom of religion. AND it protects our free speech. There seems to be a worry that a graduation address that mentions the Bible somehow is too close to our Congress establishing an official religion. And the logic is further distorted as it claims to be necessary to trump both the free exercise clause and the free speech clause. But via repeated reporting of a "separation of church and state" in the media, many citizens have come to believe that we can't allow any mention of God in school, even by students!

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Graduation Censorship