Thankfully, a federal judge refused Monday to temporarily bar schools from observing a brief period of prayer or reflective silence for students, but he allowed a lawsuit contesting the practice to move forward.
The ridiculous lawsuit was filed by talk-radio host Rob Sherman, whose 14-year-old daughter, Dawn, is a student in the district at Buffalo Grove High School.
She and her father maintain that the new law is just another round in the long-running battle over prayer in school and as such violates the U.S. Constitution.
The Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act already had allowed Illinois schools to have a moment of silence at the start of every school day if they wished to do so. This month Legislators overturned Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s veto and made the moment of silence mandatory.
The school district has promised to enforce the law in a “neutral” fashion making no reference whatsoever to religion.
Rob Sherman has been on a one man crusade to rid the public space of any reference to religion of any kind. This latest attempt by Sherman further proves that he might be the dumbest man alive.
What is Sherman so frightened of? A 15-second moment of silence to spend however you choose is completely and totally reasonable. Those who are religious can say a silent prayer and those who are not can do whatever the hell they want.
Sherman doesn’t want to allow even the possibility that a student could say a silent prayer. Exposing a child to a potentially damaging moment of silence is a controversial subject indeed.
I’m told that people who are concerned that Jesus may be after them often flee to Europe. With no public displays of religion, Mr. Sherman’s daughter should be reasonably safe, provided she continue to avoid any sudden moments of silence.
-Chris Jones
