Is Compromise Possible in Rhode Island?
By Jeffrey Page
So, once again two armies, each proclaiming purity and excellence of purpose, have lined up facing each other in firing squad formation. On one side is a student at Cranston (R.I.) High School, an atheist, who has determined that the school’s display of a prayer violates her First Amendment rights. On the other side are what appear to be the other 1,800 students, plus much of the community, who have decided that there’s not much wrong with the prayer and that it must remain as is.
Are we ever going to quit wasting time and get past these annual rituals that amount to tests of whose First Amendment rights supersede all others? Isn’t it possible for two sides that strongly oppose each other’s views to come together and acknowledge the humanity of the other side, and not bring in the lawyers? In this case, the attorneys have emerged, some poison pen emails have been posted, and the Board of Education seems to believe it has just two possible responses following the atheist’s victory in court.
Those are to spend a fortune on legal fees to appeal its loss, or take down the banner.
But there’s a third possibility, one that would require people of good will to sit down in a quiet room and actually communicate with one another.
Start this process with a close reading of the banner’s message:
School Prayer
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 to conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School.
Amen.
If you remove “prayer,” “heavenly father,” and “amen” you’re left with a student wish list to do what? To do good work and to treat people with respect. Nothing subversive there.
The third possible solution could be settled in 10 minutes with a brief rewrite of the banner. Can anyone seriously object to this:
School Credo
In the name of friendship:
May we strive each day 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.
May we be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win.
May we understand the value of true friendship.
May we conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School.
Of course to turn the prayer into a declaration of beliefs would require people on both sides to back off a little and recognize that the other side could also have some valid points.
Therefore – call me a cynic – compromise will never happen; people will be too busy defending their turf. More’s the pity since there are so many more important things facing our high school students than a hallway banner.
jeffrey@zestoforange.com
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