ACLU wants end to graduations at church

[megimoo]

- The ACLU of Connecticut is warning the Enfield school board to stop holding graduation ceremonies at a Bloomfield megachurch, claiming the graduates and their families are unconstitutionally being subjected to religious messages.

The ACLU, the national ACLU's Freedom of Religion and Belief Project, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sent a letter Wednesday to the attorney for the Enfield Public Schools. They're threatening to sue if the district doesn't change the graduation location.

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/hartfor...ions-at-church

[Mophatt]

I can't stand the ACLU and think they should be abolished! Here is a story you might find interesting:
A mother listened in to a phone conversation her son was having in his room at HER home about purse snatching and beating up this 80+ year old woman for her money. She called the police knowing they were looking for the person responsible. The ACLU faught for him at his trial claiming the mother obtained that information improperly, invading his privacy. They won.

What the hell is this about?!? He is underage and living in her home. He has no privacy! There are many more examples of the things this organization does wrong. How do we get rid of them? I don't know.

[linda22003]

I've never heard of public schools having graduations in churches.

[Gingersnap]

I've never heard of public schools having graduations in churches.

It's very common. Mega churches are designed to support huge, multimedia events. They have all the seating, parking, and electronics support to do this easily. I think the ACLU contention that the students or audience are being subjected to unwanted religious messages to be absurd.

Once you get past the sign that says "Temple of Hope" or "Springfield Christian Church" you will usually see no other indications that the facility is Christian. If you were magically transported into the "sanctuary" of most mega churches and you opened your eyes, you could not distinguish the interior from any large mid-level conference center.

[linda22003]

The only "megachurches" I've seen are on TV, and look like auditoriums. Why aren't school graduations in.... oh, just as an example.... the school?

[Gingersnap]

The only "megachurches" I've seen are on TV, and look like auditoriums. Why aren't school graduations in.... oh, just as an example.... the school?

Because the parents believe that the school is required to accommodate a minimum of 10 family members per kid. They think this is a federal regulation.

If the ACLU really wanted to do something about graduations, they'd sue colleges and universities that staged segregated graduation ceremonies.

[linda22003]

I don't know what "segregated" graduation ceremonies are. You don't mean by race, do you? My prep school graduation was outdoors (around a decorative pond), and my college graduation was also - a football stadium.

[Gingersnap]

I don't know what "segregated" graduation ceremonies are. You don't mean by race, do you? My prep school graduation was outdoors (around a decorative pond), and my college graduation was also - a football stadium.

Yes, indeed by race. It's common now to have separate Hispanic, African-American, Asian, or Native American graduations. Sometimes the students will participate in the segregated ceremony and the normal one but sometimes they just show up to the segregated event.

[linda22003]

Not in my area, it isn't.

[FlaGator]

Not in my area, it isn't.

They are having them here too. Not a lot but it is growing. This is mostly a desire of the minority groups, otherwise the ACLU would be having a fit.