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© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Florida governor signs bill requiring moment for school prayer
By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN TALLAHASSEE, Fla.©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
38 Comments
Jsapc
They exactly did, you incredibly ignorant buffoon. Separation of church and state. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion".
Bob Fosse
Another useless legislation for the circus. Absolutely meaningless.
GdTokyo
This will not survive judicial review as it is clearly a violation of the Constitution.
This is Governor helmet hair ingratiating himself with the religious extremists that make up the GOP base.
Wolfpack
There is nothing wrong with allowing students a private and personal moment of quiet reflection in school if they do choose. The separation of church and state is not an idea embedded in the Constitution. The establishment clause is taken to an extreme to imply that even in-kind supports and tax breaks for religious institutions is “establishing” religion. Such thinking is ludicrous. There has never been a national church like the Church of England in America. That’s what the establishment clause prohibits.
Only one of the Founders alluded to the idea of separation of church and that was Thomas Jefferson in a letter to a religious organization. Progressives took this tiny opinion from Jefferson and twisted it into a foundational element of the nations origins. Jefferson, himself a Diest, was quite open in his belief in the Christian God and refers to religion frequently in his political and philosophical writings.
I am not a religious person but I do understand that religion is a threat to Progressivism, and like their Communist cousins, Progressives seek to stamp out religion from the public square. They cannot accept an alternative power over the state. Although not religious I don’t feel threatened by people with religious beliefs. I try to be tolerant of others. I only wish everyone was willing to be more tolerant of those different from themselves as well.
Jsapc
Read the title of the article : "Florida governor signs bill requiring moment for school prayer". Not "allowing". "Requiring".
ROFL!! Great stuff :'D
Blacklabel
Florida man!
nothing wrong with this at all. Pray OR meditate. Good way to get some focus for the learning to come.
Blacklabel
Actually it shouldn’t have to be a law, no.
Blacklabel
But you misrepresent this too. It’s not compulsory nor prayer.
it basically requires one minute of silence in the class. In which you can do anything you want or nothing at all while sitting silently.
it can’t be compulsory if no way to prove someone did it. Also mediation isn’t prayer and you can even (gasp!) pray to another God besides “that one”.
GdTokyo
For those of us old enough to remember, Reagan went down this road, and got laughed out of court.
For you strict constructionists here the Constitution is quite clear. Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of a religion. Furthermore the Supremacy Clause establishes the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of the land meaning that the Florida state government cannot make laws counter to U.S. Constitution.
Reagan even did the "moment of quiet reflection" bit. Nope. You can pray at home or in your local house of worship. You may take your recess or lunch time (free period, whatever) to pray as some in my public Jr. High did. But the government may not mandate time for religious worship in a publicly funded school. Period.
Boku Dayo
Schools don't need a moment for prayer or silence.
THIS is what they need:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,"
God Bless America.
Commodore Perry
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited a South Florida Jewish temple to denounce anti-Semitism and stand with Israel
Good to see strong US leader expressing their support for our strongest ally in the Middle East.
theFu
My middle school did a moment of silence at the start of the day in the 1970s. Nobody said what the moment was for, because it would be illegal for any adult in a public school to say their intention. Of course, the totally religious students were their to say what it was for.
That school had an informal prayer club that met before school in the library. I was a member mainly because the library had air conditioning, otherwise we'd be waiting for school to start in the heat. Fortunately, my family only lived in that town about 18 months. Nowhere else I've lived were people so quick to point out their church attendance, yet 5 minutes later act completely counter to the claimed teachings for 6 days and 23 hours until the next Sunday sermon.
It took me until around age 17 to understand the point of religion, but I wasn't vocal about it for another 10 yrs to avoid upsetting family and most coworkers. My friends and selected family know my stance. My better half said it was a key reason we are together.
Blacklabel
true that. I see you there. my bad.
So when kids at school use the toilet, it happens. thats the most generic "definition" I have ever seen.
was the toilet use compulsory? of course not, they chose to do it based on their personal preference and needs. Others wont use the toilet at school and will wait until they get home.
Boku Dayo
If you're an American student attending a public school you recite the Pledge of Allegiance. You place your right hand over your heart.
If you're not American or don't " believe" in God (like the commies don't), then you stand and place your right hand over your heart out of respect for America and those who sacrificed their lives for it.
That's how it goes.
Express sister
No. Stop trying to stifle my freedom of expression.
Express sister
What "anti-religious beliefs" are being forced on religious people?
lincolnman
DeSantis is just another Ted Cruz without the obesity and scruffy face...
They both don't believe a word of the outrageous lies and fairy tales they weave - they just know they can bamboozle the Trump faithful with it...
The so-called evangelicals think our secular government should be religious based - just like the Mullahs in Iran... DeSantis knows what our Constitution says - he just plays dumb and goes along with the scam...
bass4funk
Name calling won’t change the bill.
I don’t think the left has a clue as to what DeSantis thinks other than to protect the religious freedoms of Americans that feel they are under assaults by the progressive left.
No, they just think, you do as you wish and allow me to do the same, quite simple really. Again, this is another reason why the guy is a rockstar in his State.
lincolnman
Wasn't meant to - the courts will do that...
Too bad he didn't do more to protect Floridians from the virus...
Last Sunday, July 12, Florida recorded a chilling national record: more than 15,300 new COVID-19 cases in a single day. If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world in this appalling category. Our new peers: the United States, Brazil and India.
On Thursday, Florida chalked up its highest-ever daily death total: 156 COVID-19 fatalities. Which followed the previous high, set just two days before, of 132.
On Wednesday, the state’s total of cases since the start of the pandemic crashed past 300,000.
And Gov. Ron DeSantis arrogantly called the frightening surge “a blip.”
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/07/19/coronavirus-florida-editorial-in-worst-public-health-crisis-in-generations-desantis-is-massive-fail/41760879/
What does he think about that photo of Jerry Falwell Jr?
PTownsend
to protect the religious freedoms of Americans
Like so many other far right Republicans De Santis is pandering to his true-believing base base, Evangelicals, while ignoring the reality that he could offend, the 'others' who do not share the same beliefs as far right Evangelicals, but the R"s do not care if they offend 'others'. The R's want to further fracture the country, using the time proven tactic of divide and conquer done by authoritarian regimes throughout history.
Republicans have long cared primarily about maintaining the wealth of the already wealthy. Little about anyone else. The R's say things like if you do not like the politics of Florida, move to another state. The next state could well be one the R's muck up even worse. The Republican stench is present throughout the county, the R's are a minority attempting to impose their wack beliefs on the majority.. That they have heavily armed thug militias backing them up is worrying.
bass4funk
The way the Dems tried to bury the 4th amendment?
*In a 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled the “community caretaking” exception does not apply to private residences*.
Sadly, the left tried and lost on that one.
https://www.newsweek.com/media-tried-smear-ron-desantis-it-backfired-opinion-1581410
Anyone who has spent more than five minutes in Florida knows that the Publix chain is ubiquitous and, more importantly, beloved and trusted by Floridians. The 60 Minutes episode was deeply unethical. Sharyn Alfonsi, the reporter for 60 Minutes whose story it was, comes off like a political activist in her interaction with DeSantis, accusing the governor of "pay-to-play" after cornering him at a press conference.
DeSantis for his part calmly provided a detailed response to the unfounded accusation, pointing out that CVS and Walgreens were playing other roles in the vaccine distribution at longterm healthcare facilities and that Publix did not have an "exclusive" distribution rights to the vaccine.
It seems Whitmer and Newsom could learn a lot from DeSantis as well as being honest and ethical. Never run away from the mic.
fleetwood77
An American girl I know told me that every day in school she and her classmates had to "pledge allegiance" to the flag of the USA.
Does that really happen ? In public schools?
And here was me thinking that the USA was the Land of the Free
Strikes me as just as bad as requiring people to pray
bass4funk
That goes both ways. Atheists will say that about Evangelicals and Evangelicals will say the same about Atheists. The difference now here is, the left can’t stop evangelicals from wanting to keep their schools from being indoctrinated by left progressives. They already have California, Maine and the northwest and northeastern states, how much more do they want to take?
But they didn’t, if they did you wouldn’t see a slow resurgence in Republicans winning in areas where Obama and Hillary won big.
There is no one in Silicon Valley that voted for Trump, they all voted for Biden, so that just killed that insane statement.
I’m from California, they say the same thing and someone said that to me 21 years ago and I did just that, I left.
No, it’s just more of the left worrying (and with good reason) that starting next year they will lose a lot and from the looks of it, there will be a seismic shift politically to start getting the Dems out of office. If I were a Republican, I would pray the left keep their focus Trump, that just continues to help the GOP.
plasticmonkey
It would be refreshing if so-called Christians like Ron DeSantis followed what their so-called lord and savior said about prayer:
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
--Matthew 6:5-6
People can pray anywhere and anytime they like. DeSantis knows that laws like this are simply a political appeal to the Christian right. Doing such is a vilification of the sacred.
lincolnman
What does community caretaking have to do with religious secularism as guaranteed by the 1st Amendment? You're way off topic...
Who lost were Floridians - 37,265 to date...
https://www.miamitimesonline.com/opinion/desantis-order-opens-the-door-to-covid-spread/article_48e36a2e-acf1-11eb-a4ec-d36ac93305a6.html
Too bad DeSantis didn't learn from his fellow Repub GWB's "Mission Accomplished" failure...
https://www.theledger.com/story/opinion/editorials/2020/07/21/another-viewpoint-desantis-must-face-his-own-mistakes/112571344/