Amidst the impeachment trial controversy, it hasn’t slowed President Donald J Trump in moving forward with trade deals and bringing prayer back into schools ahead of Religious Freedom Day.
“We will not let anyone push God from the public square,” said Trump as he introduced the new rules on Thursday. “We will uphold religious liberty for all.
The POTUS recently took new steps to give religious organizations easier access to federal programs, vowing to protect prayer in public schools.
After reportedly promising significant change at a Megachurch in Miami in early Jan. the POTUS essentially came through when addressing media at a recent press conference in the Oval Office.
POTUS was surrounded by other officials and several students from around the nation that spoke of their personal perils when praying in school. One student was Honey Grove ISD high schooler, Hannah Allen.
Allen spoke while standing next to the president, explaining how she and a handful of her classmates were asked to ‘hide’ their prayer in the future. She said the request was made from her then high school principal. After the initial request, Allen teamed up with First Liberty Institute.
First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to protecting religious liberty for all Americans.
Allen did say that after the school received a letter on the situation, things had changed.
Speaking with Honey Grove ISD Superintendent Todd Morrison on the issue, he said that prayer has always been welcomed at any of his ISD schools; this particular incident was just the unfortunate combination of the wrong time and the wrong place. Morrison also expressed that there had been no further contact with Liberty outside their initial contact.
“The original incident happened during a lunch hour where people found it hard to move to and from the cafeteria,” he said. “The principal had asked the prayer group to move to one side to keep the doorway clear, and a few days later, they welcomed me to join them.”
Morrison further said that this particular incident isn’t the controversy that it has been made out to be.
“Prayer has always been welcome in our school and has never left. The group was only asked to move for safety and security for all,” he added.
Aside from the topic at hand, Morrison did say that he was happy for Allen to have had the opportunity she had in Washington D.C.
“We will not let anyone push God from the public square,” Trump said as he introduced the new rules. “We will uphold religious liberty for all.”
Morrison said that prayer is included in the Honey Grove high school student handbook; the rule reads; “Each student has a right to pray individually, voluntarily, and silently or to meditate in school in a manner that does not disrupt instructional or other activities of the school. The school will not encourage, require, or coerce a student to engage in or to refrain from such prayer or meditation during any school activity.”
“We firmly believe that every student in Honey Grove ISD should feel safe and confident to exercise their first amendment right to pray freely without persecution or repercussions of any kind. We encourage our kids to be individuals because we know they, in turn, will become great members of our community,” said Morrison.
