Valedictorian's prayer: Lord's Prayer used as grad speech despite school ban

Valedictorian's prayer: Lord's Prayer used as grad speech despite school ban, A Valedictorian prayer is trending in Internet searches tonight, and the religious nature of the educational case certainly lends itself well to the controversy. According to the Daily Mail this Wednesday, June 5, a graduation speech from the high school’s reigning valedictorian quickly turned from a secular dialogue into a prayerful one.

The Valedictorian prayer story began in a South Carolina high school during the long-awaited graduation ceremony. Roy Costner IV — who was the top graduate of the school — initially had a speech already planned, but only moments after he began speaking, Costner tore up his speech, and soon began to preach through prayer, quite literally.

Liberty High School was initially shocked at Costner’s choosing to change his speech, but immediately became supportive of his words.

"Obviously I didn't do my job well enough,' noted Costner on his Valedictorian prayer. 'We're going to have to use a different one. Who cares?"

After ripping the speech and shocking the crowd, the valedictorian went on:

“Those that we look up to, they have helped carve and mold us into the young adults that we are today …. I’m so glad that both of my parents led me to the Lord at a young age. And I think most of you will understand when I say… Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name…"

The audience erupted into applause at the Valedictorian prayer, completing the well-known Lord’s Prayer. Yet following the heartfelt speech, controversy immediately began, as school district rules had been set in place that effectively separated school and state, banning prayer in schools, and now that had been thrown into contention.

While there may have been various reasons for the Valedictorian prayer, it appears that Costner’s main reason for choosing to recite the Lord's words as his speech was in protest of the local school district’s decision that does not allow prayer to be practiced on school time, concluded the Epoch Times.

Fellow readers, for those who are religious or non-religious, what are your opinions of the Valedictorian prayer? Was it in poor taste, or a means of freedom of expression that was obviously very well-received by the audience listening to the graduation speech?

Valedictorian's prayer: Lord's Prayer used as grad speech despite school ban 2013-06-06T06:58:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: My Videos Tube