Christians Have Free Speech Rights in Public School

Posted by johnhouk on Jul 31, 2009
 John R. Houk
© July 30, 2009

It seems like atheists can endorse their atheism in public school. It seems that transgender/homosexuals enjoy so-called diversity day or awareness classes in stark contradiction to Biblical Christianity in public school. It seems that Muslim students are either afforded special places to pray or have public funding in public schools.

If anything or any reference to faith in Christ occurs in public school, the atheist, secular humanist or Muslim organizations cry breach of the mythological separation of Church and State.

A little over three years ago (2006) then High School Valedictorian Brittany McComb was cut off from her Commencement speech when the school powers that be realized she was about to include a portion of the speech she was told not to use. McComb was about to tell her graduating class that she credit to Jesus for her success.

The Rutherford Institute is pushing to have the Supreme Court to hear this infringement on McComb’s free speech rights. Here is a 2006 account of the perfidy of the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, NV:

    A constitutional attorney is denouncing a Las Vegas school district for pulling the plug on a Christian student's commencement speech because it referred to her faith in Jesus Christ. At a recent graduation ceremony, Clark County School District (CCSD) officials cut the microphone on Foothill High School valedictorian Brittany McComb after she began reading a speech that contained Bible verses and references to God.

    The district officials claim McComb's speech amounted to religious proselytizing and could have been perceived as school-sponsored, thus making it a violation of the so-called separation of church and state. But Mat Staver, founder and chairman of the Florida-based pro-family legal organization Liberty Counsel, says the high school valedictorian has every right to take the school district to court over the incident.

    "I think this is one of the most outrageous examples of censorship at graduation that I've seen," Staver contends. "For school officials to literally be standing by the switch at the mixing board and cut the microphone on a student, simply because that student mentions God or Jesus, is just unbelievable."

    With high school behind her, McComb plans to study journalism at Biola University, a Christian college in Southern California. But during her four years at Foothill, she says, "they taught me logic and they taught me freedom of speech." However, when the school's 2006 valedictorian tried to apply these lessons in her graduation address, the graduating senior with the 4.7 GPA ran into a problem.

    In vetting McComb's speech, school officials stripped it of biblical references and approved an edited version, cutting six mentions of God or Christ and omitting two biblical references. At the graduation exercises, however, the teen commencement speaker felt compelled to deviate from the edited version. "God's the biggest part of my life," she says. "Just like other valedictorians thank their parents, I wanted to thank my Lord and Savior."

    For the Foothill High School graduate, it all boiled down to her faith and her fundamental First Amendment right to free speech. For those reasons, she asserts, she chose in this instance to rebel against authority for the first time in her life. And, according to an Associated Press report, a sympathetic crowd of nearly 400 graduates and their families booed angrily at the school officials for several minutes after they cut McComb's microphone.

    An American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada official who read the unedited version of the young woman's speech told the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper the school district did the right thing in cutting the valedictory address short. But Staver disagrees that the district's action was warranted and comments, "In my opinion it's reprehensible, and I also believe it's unconstitutional."

    The ACLU spokesperson quoted in the Review-Journal made the argument that graduation speakers like McComb are given a school-sponsored forum and therefore their speech is school-sponsored speech. But Liberty Counsel's chairman insists that student commencement speakers' personal remarks and expressions are free speech under the U.S. Constitution.

    "Clearly, the law protects students who are in the graduation podium, on the platform, because they are there for some neutral reason -- in this case, being the valedictorian," Staver says. "That student has the right to be able to give a message of his or her own choice regarding the viewpoint of the particular message that's being delivered."

    While the attorney regards the silencing of McComb's speech at the Foothill High School commencement as one of the most egregious acts of graduation censorship he has seen, he notes that it is one among many such incidents that happen to speakers of faith every year -- a problem that has to be stopped. "Schools should not, must not, and must stop censoring these kinds of religious viewpoints simply because they are Christian in nature," he says.

    Even now, Staver points out, his organization is involved in a similar case. Liberty Counsel is currently representing a Colorado high school graduate whose diploma was withheld after she shared her faith in Jesus Christ during a commencement speech.     (Jim Brown at Students for Academic Freedom on 6/22/06)


Here is the plea from John W. Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute:

Freedom hangs in the balance right now, and it’s up to us – you and me and courageous Christians like Brittany McComb – to stand guard.

We are standing up for the right of Christians all across this country to freely share what’s on their hearts and minds without fear of censorship, discrimination or persecution.

No one in America should be subjected to the kind of discriminatory treatment that Brittany McComb faced. As you may recall, Brittany is the high school valedictorian whose microphone was unplugged at the very point in her graduation speech when she started speaking about the part her Christian beliefs played in her success.

Mark my words, the McComb case is just a foreshadowing of what life will be like for Christians in this country. From this point onward, we will have to fight for every basic right we once took for granted—by this, I mean the freedom to speak, to pray, to assemble.

That’s why it is so critical that we prevail before the United States Supreme Court.

Recognizing that this case could revolutionize religious freedom in America, we have assembled some of the best legal minds in the country to work on this case. For the past three years, these dedicated attorneys have poured themselves into this case, because they believe, as I do, that a victory in this case would give Christians the right to speak freely about their beliefs in school again, just as other students speak freely about their beliefs. We simply can’t allow such a double standard to prevail.

Now we’re nearing the final stages of this battle, and I need to know that you stand with us.

We have asked the United States Supreme Court to hear Brittany’s case, and we need all the prayers and support we can get. The attorneys on our legal team have already donated close to $100,000 in their time alone, not to mention the legal expenses involved in taking a case all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

Please stand with The Rutherford Institute in the ongoing fight for religious freedom. A gift of $25, $50, $100 or $500 will go a long way toward continuing our critical legal and educational programs and ensuring that we remain on the front lines of the battle to protect our blessed freedoms.

Click here to make your secure, tax-deductible donation online today.

Please do what you can to stand with us in this and other critical battles for all we hold dear.

Yours faithfully,

John W. Whitehead

I encourage you to really get behind the Rutherford Institute to fight for free speech for Christians.

JRH 7/30/09
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