Letter to the editor: Young people have the right to pray

Published 9:59 pm Tuesday, March 12, 2013

To the Editor:
I am writing this letter in response to a news story that I read in the WDN sometime ago that talked about the cheerleaders from Kountze High School in Hardin County, Texas, filing a lawsuit in Hardin County District Court against the Hardin County school district and the Freedom from Religion Foundation for violating their rights of freedom of  speech. What these cheerleaders did was that they displayed Bible verses at home football games on banners that were not funded in any way by the school. The attorney general of Texas, Greg Abbott, intervened in the case, filing court papers saying that the cheerleaders were well within their rights because school funds were not used.
It is my belief that young people have the right to pray or to mention the name of Jesus Christ in a public school or at a  public school event simply because that is a guaranteed right afforded to us in the First Amendment. I certainly applaud these young people for standing up for their rights.
Groups like American atheists, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and, last but not least, the ACLU will stop at nothing in order to eradicate our moral and spiritual foundation and get Christianity completely removed from the conscience of America.
Our Founding Fathers founded this nation upon Godly principles and our Founding Documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution guarantee these God-given rights.
TIM BAKER
Chocowinity