In a victory for the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge has ordered the removal of a controversial prayer banner located in the auditorium of a Rhode Island public high school.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald R. Lagueux ordered the “immediate removal” of a prayer banner located in the auditorium of Cranston West High School.
High school student Jessica Ahlquist fights for secular values
High school student Jessica Ahlquist has been the public face behind the much publicized battle to remove the unconstitutional prayer banner displayed at Cranston High School West. Jessica, a student at Cranston, faced prejudice, adversity, and religious intolerance from Christian extremists in her fight to remove the unconstitutional prayer banner.
With a healthy respect for the U.S. Constitution and the separation between church and state, Jessica, joined by the ACLU of Rhode Island, filed a federal lawsuit last spring to force the removal of the 8-foot-tall prayer banner hanging in the auditorium of her Rhode Island public high school. On Wedensday, Judge Lagueux ruled in favor of Jessica and the ACLU.
The prayer banner reads:
OUR HEAVENLY FATHER,
GRANT US EACH DAY THE DESIRE TO DO OUR BEST, TO GROW MENTALLY AND MORALLY AS WELL AS PHYSICALLY, TO BE KIND AND HELPFUL TO OUR CLASSMATES AND TEACHERS, TO BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES AS WELL AS WITH OTHERS, HELP US TO BE GOOD SPORTS AND SMILE WHEN WE
LOSE AS WELL AS WHEN WE WIN, TEACH US THE VALUE OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP,
HELP US ALWAYS TO CONDUCT OURSELVES SO AS TO BRING CREDIT TO CRANSTON HIGH SCHOOL WEST.
AMEN
Despite the sectarian and thus unconstitutional nature of the prayer banner, the banner has been hanging in the school auditorium since the 1960’s. Because of this, Cranston city officials claimed the mural is a historical artifact and served no real religious purpose. However, Judge Lagueux rightly rejected this line of reasoning.
For the city to claim the prayer banner served no real religious purpose is ridiculous. A prayer banner is by definition religious, and the Cranston prayer banner clearly references the Christian faith. As such, the prayer banner excludes, offends, and insults non-Christians. Such religious pressures have no place in a public school.
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