Say Grace, Go To Jail?

     In a Florida public high school, Principal Lay, Head Administrator at Pace High School, asked his athletic director, Robert Freeman, to say grace, or to pray, before a school luncheon. Principal Lay, who has always been known for undoubtedly sharing his Christian beliefs, has never wanted to hide away his faith. In asking his to have his athletic director say grace, Principal Lay violated the First Amendment right of freedom of religion, trying to pray a Christian prayer without the consent of the students, parents, and faculty members who were present then. Through this, he was trying to establish a single religion in a public school facility, even if it was done unintentionally. Because of this, Principal Lay was sentenced to serve time in jail due to the fact that he violated a court order to not promote his personal faith as a government official at a government function. However, the question is, should Principal Lay have to spend time in jail, simply because he was expressing his belief through a prayer?

     I share very similar Christian beliefs as Principal Lay and do not think that anyone should be sent to jail over a matter of saying a prayer, whether they are on school property or not. But I do believe that Principal Lay crossed the line when he was specifically ordered, by a Federal Court Judge, to not promote any of his Christian beliefs and impose his religious views onto others at a government function, and then went ahead and asked a faculty member to say a prayer. He violated his court order and for this, I believe that he should be sentenced. So outside of violating court orders, I do not believe that anybody should be sent to jail for saying a prayer, however, if a person knows that saying a prayer aloud in a situation such as this would cause conflict between others, then maybe it would be best to say a prayer in your head. I'm not saying this in order to have someone feel as if they must be ashamed of their faith in school or at work and must say a prayer silently but to avoid such hostility and conflict maybe it would be best to not say a prayer aloud. As the article I read suggests, "God is not hard of hearing." 

National Convention Speeches

                    

        In review of the National Convention Speeches, we are able to observe the key points and highlights made during each candidate's presidential speech. Representing the Republican party was Mitt Romney, who stressed the concerns of topics such as: the Middle Class, Medicare/ Obamacare, the importance of family, immigration, free enterprise, creating equality for women, Church, and the strength of the Community. With points such as, creating equality for women, Mitt reflected on his wife's story of being such a strong woman and leader, doing one of the most important jobs a woman could do... being a mother. Ann Romney, also diagnosed with MS, was left at home raising 5 boys on her own while her husband's job would take him around from place to place. Mitt understood his wife's importance and this is why he stresses the importance of creating a fair and balanced system in today's world of offering women equal chances and opportunities that men have. Along with creating better equality for women, he also reflected upon he importance of family and how his family has aided him over the years. He also shed some light on the topics of Medicare and how he would like to overturn Obamacare and would like to reform Health Care.

        A week later, President Barack Obama delivered his presidential speech during the Democratic National Convention, and as he did so, he keened in on topics such as: Renewable Energy, putting a stop to outsourcing jobs, strengthening the Army, Education and the importance of it for our children, and also the Middle Class. President Obama really had a mindset of benefiting our children and helping them succeed by offering ideas for improving Early Childhood Education and by cutting College and University prices for students. He also reflected upon the tragic events that took place due to terrorists and how he ended the war in Iraq, and all the other accomplishments he has achieved during his term in office. Also, with stopping the growth out outsourced jobs, President Obama honed in on the thought of bringing jobs to the American people, by having products being manufactured here in our own country.

        During the presidential speeches at the National Conventions this year, we are able to see the slight similarities between the candidates, but mainly, the differences each candidate offers as they persuade the American public that they are the best choice for the job of the next President of the United States. I believe both men demonstrated themselves very well during the speech but also both had some things that were dislikable to some of the viewers. It was definitely an interesting display of politics this year.