A Texas school district will no longer
hold its graduation ceremonies at one of the largest mega-churches in the
nation after the church refused to remove a cross from the sanctuary.
For more than a decade the McKinney
School District held graduation ceremonies for three of its high schools in the
massive sanctuary of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX. But that tradition ended abruptly after a
group of atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers complained about a public school
system using a building that belongs to a Christian church.
“It was our refusal to remove the
cross from view that created this cowardly decision,” Pastor Jack Graham wrote
on Twitter. “It appears religious
freedom is under attack at the McKinney Public Schools.” Graham said they are disappointed in the
district’s decision, but the congregation does not have any regrets in refusing
to remove the cross. “We are not ashamed
this happened because we would not consent to remove or cover our cross,” he said.
Todd Starnes of FoxNews points out that during the 13-years that Prestonwood Church
hosted graduation ceremonies there were no altar calls or baptisms (mandatory
or otherwise).
The Dallas Morning News reported that “community members” were also
concerned about religious displays in classrooms at this Southern Baptist
church.
In 2016, the Freedom From Religion
Foundation (FFRF), a Wisconsin-based group of atheist agitators, fired off a letter
to the school district complaining about the church’s “traditional Baptist
symbols.” “The Establishment Claus
prohibits public schools from holding graduation ceremonies in houses of worship,”
the FFRF wrote in a letter to the district.
The FFRF has a notorious reputation for bullying school districts. [I’ve written a number of blogs about FFRF.]
“We meet their bullying by reiterating
our love and openness to our community and especially those in the McKinney
School District community – many of whom attend our services by the hundreds
every weekend,” Graham said.
Starnes reports the pastor says he
does not begrudge the school district for capitulating to the demands of the
out-of-town atheists. “We know this
decision is not a reflection on the good people of our community because it was
substantially influenced by a small group determined to change our values in
Texas by silencing free speech and restricting religious freedom,” Graham said.
Prestonwood Church has a history of
opening its doors to all sorts of community events – including memorial
services and funerals for police officers killed in the line of duty. “This is the heart of our church: to serve
our neighbors, no strings attached, but we do it all in the name of Jesus and
we will never hide that fact,” the pastor declared.
Starnes writes, “I can’t help but
wonder if the atheists and their local minions would object to police officers
being memorialized inside a Baptist church?
It is unfortunate that the McKinney Independent School District was not
able to muster the backbone necessary to fight back against a small, radical
group of anti-Christians. That sort of
response would be expected in places like San Francisco – but not deep in the
heart of Texas.”
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
May I quote Pastor Heggie of San Antonio "We must start using our freedom to defend our freedom or we will lose our freedom". School districts MUST refuse to kowtow to the FFRF and the courts. Will the court fine schools or perhaps send school board members to prison? Will congress withhold funding? Funding which is unconstitutional anyway. One can only imagine the outcry if a judge decided to arrest an entire school board for standing up for religious freedom!!
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