[quote]Students at an Illinois high school are taking action in an effort to stop prayers at their public school’s annual graduation ceremony, according to a secular organization that recently sent a warning letter on their behalf. Represented by the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center, unnamed students at Norris City-Omaha-Enfield High School in Norris City, Ill., are on a “quest to have the regularly occurring unconstitutional practice stopped,” proclaims a press release from the humanist group. “Not only do the graduation prayers place unconstitutional coercive pressure on students to participate in a religious exercise, but they also have the effect of advancing and endorsing religion,” it read, in part. “The Establishment Clause ‘has long guarded against government conduct that has the effect of promoting religious teachings in school settings, and the case law has evinced special concern with the receptivity of schoolchildren to endorsed religious messages.”[/quote] Now obviously all the religious students and people in my community are pissed, but some others do not care. I, personally, am quite tired of seeing this all over my Facebook. This is what I posted on one status: [quote] I agree that it is kind of stupid and petty, but to say it doesn't violate the first amendment is false. Public schools cannot have any religious preference over another. Its why there is no daily prayer or any religious material in the school (unless being taught as a form of literature or critically analyzing religion). One could theoretically argue that this does, in fact, violate their first amendment rights and probably be successful in court.[/quote] The person said something about it being student led, so I said: [quote]Yes. Student led religious activities are fine. But at a large, school sanctioned event, one could argue that a prayer violates their first amendment rights. It would be like if every morning a student says a prayer through the intercom system. It may be student led, but its still through a school sanctioned event; moreover, its pushing one theological perspective over another. The first amendment does grant citizens of the US to have freedom of religion, but it also means that the government cannot put one belief system over another. However, like I said before, the prayer during graduation lasted less than 30 seconds. Pardon my language, but who gives a shit? You know? Don't do it and then move on.[/quote] What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you care about prayers during a graduation or do you see it as unconstitutional? EDIT: Let me just clarify that the graduation schedule has always included time allotted for both an opening and closing prayer and they are student-led.