Following a lawsuit threat from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Florida’s Polk County School Board is changing how it handles school prayer.
Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and Liberty University’s School of Law tells OneNewsNow this is just another attempt from the atheist group to remove God and Christianity from the public sphere.
“Now, the prayers will continue,” he reports. “But the school board will actually have a disclaimer saying that the voluntary invocation may be offered before the opening of the school board meeting by a private citizen, and therefore, the views expressed in the invocation have not been reviewed or approved by the school board.”
Staver sees nothing wrong with that approach, as it puts people on notice that the person praying is responsible for the wording and that the school is not drafting or composing prayers. So he believes the policy will be upheld if challenged, but he does not think the atheist group will be satisfied.
“Freedom From Religion Foundation is not interested in a disclaimer; it’s not interested in having prayer at all,” the Liberty Counsel founder contends. “It’s particularly interested in eliminating Christian viewpoints and Christian heritage and history from America.”
One concern expressed by school board members, however, is the potential $300,000 to $500,000 in legal fees if the prayer is challenged in court.
(Source: OneNewsNow)