No School Graduations in Church!!

Now that high school graduations are upon us again this year, we hear of more lawsuits to block holding the ceremonies in churches. One would think that the objection is that the ceremony is going to turn into a prayer meeting. But, no, the objection is simply that the building is a church. The claim is made that it would violate the so-called "separation of church and state" of our First Amendment. This might have come as a surprise to our Founders, who even thought it permissible to hold church services in the U.S. Capital.

Some objections center around the fact that the rooms to be used "look" like a church. In one case the fact that is has red carpet was cited (among other reasons). From the school's point of view it makes all kinds of sense. In many cases the facility is much more suitable than anything owned by the school. In a case from Enfield, CT, the school could not use school facilities and said the nearby civic center would have cost $70,000 to rent. The megachurch the selected was charging them $16,000 and had large screen TV's so parents could clearly see their own graduate.

Our Founders did not want the federal government to declare one particular sect a national religion and force citizens to support it. Merely stepping into a church for a secular ceremony does not create an official religion. And the reason for choosing that facility had nothing to do with religion.

Read more here:

Battles loom over holding public school graduations in church

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-04-26-churchcommencement26_st_N.htm