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CAT Tracks for January 11, 2011
A MOMENT OF SILENCE |
...is once again the Law of the Land of Lincoln.
I'm not an atheist, but I'm actually agin' it...the "Moment of Silence".
It's an obvious sham...a ploy to force religion into the public schools...the first step on the slippery slope.
I've always held two positions on this quest:
Ya know...
...I (and even heathen teachers) would climb aboard this freedom (of religion) train if legislators would change just one little word in the law. Replace the "moment" to "DAY of Silence". Do that and I will join the chorus and give a boisterous "AMEN!"
Postscript:
Actually, with the recent ascendancy of the Republican Party and its continuing majority in the United States Supreme Court...as witnessed by their (s)election of George W. Bush as President of the United States in the year 2000, the threatened legal battle by atheist parent Rob Sherman is moot.
Bluntly put...
"Mr. Sherman...As for winning your war against religion, you don't have a prayer."
From the Huffington Post...
Atheist Activist Vows To Fight Illinois Moment Of Silence Law
Chicago News
CHICAGO — An Illinois law requiring a daily moment of silence in public schools is back in effect after a two-year hiatus.
Federal Judge Robert Gettleman lifted an injunction on the law's enforcement and the State Board of Education notified districts Friday, a day later.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled in October that the law approved in 2007 is constitutional, because it doesn't specify prayer. The decision reversed a 2009 ruling by Gettleman calling the law unconstitutional.
The court said legislators stressed the moment of silence's secular and practical purpose in settling students down at the start of the school day.
Parent Rob Sherman, an atheist who filed a challenge to the law, says he plans to fight it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
From the Illinois State Board of Education Website...
Legal
Mandatory Period of Silence Found Constitutional
On Oct. 15, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the decision of the U.S. District Court and determined that Section 1 of “The Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act” (the “Act”) is, on its face, constitutional. On Dec. 30, 2010, after denying the Plaintiff’s Petition for Rehearing, the Seventh Circuit issued its mandate, which requires the District Court to lift the injunction on the Act’s implementation. It is anticipated that the District Court will lift the injunction this week, at which time the Act will retake effect. ISBE will send notice via IWAS when the injunction is lifted.
Section 1 of the Act states: “In each public school classroom the teacher in charge shall observe a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day. This period shall not be conducted as a religious exercise but shall be an opportunity for silent prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated activities of the day.”
While Section 1 does not define the length of the period of silence, the Seventh Circuit pointed approvingly to an example of one district that, when the law was in effect, made a school-wide morning announcement that there would be a brief period of silence, and then, after fifteen (15) seconds had passed, the announcer would begin the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Court’s apparent approval of this example does not mandate that the brief period of silence must be implemented in that way, and — unless presented with any evidence that the Act is being implemented in an unconstitutional manner — the State Board of Education has no intention to limit Illinois school districts’ flexibility to implement in a manner that works best for the district and its students.
