ACLU….Here they go again

Enfield School Board is now faced with the decision whether to keep the plan for graduation at First Cathedral or look for another arena.

A few months ago the Enfield Board of Education formed a committee to look at possible sites for the 2007 graduation for Fermi High School. The committee did a great job in researching many possible locations but decided to recommend First Cathedral for many good reasons.

At First Cathedral the graduation would have enough room for all the families and friends to attend. This had to be the top priority and the over 3000 seating at the church proved to be the right choice.

Parking also had to be taken into account and once again First Cathedral fulfilled that need.

Now the ACLU wants to interfere with a local decision and force the graduation somewhere else.

Their reasoning is the fact that the chosen location is a church and promotes one religion over another. They could not be more wrong!

Although First Cathedral is a religious institution the selection was based on the need for seating and parking.

Here are my questions. Is there a chance that people attending the graduation will be converted to that church’s beliefs? Are the people of Enfield so weak in their own faith that walking into First Cathedral will cause spiritual confusion? Will students raised Catholic, Jewish, or even Muslim all of a sudden come to a new awakening that they have been wrong all their lives?

I don’t think so.

All that will happen is that the graduation class of 2007 will walk the platform and receive their much-earned Diplomas. Parents, families, and friends will enjoy the ceremony sitting in comfortable seats and watching their children on the stage and on the close circuit televisions throughout the auditorium.

We will park on sight and if it is raining will not have to relocate or even walk through puddles of water and mud.

It comes down to one thing….location!

So why is the ACLU so upset? Why do they think it is their right to impose their beliefs on our community?

They believe that the founders of our nation thought that any combining of government and religion would be to our detriment. The hold to the false reality that a nation is weakened by even the appearance of promoting faith.

I agree that America should not endorse a certain belief. I also agree that politics should not be promoted in the pulpit.

However, our nation was founded in a belief in God. Our Congress opens with the acknowledgement of His existence with a daily prayer. Our money has inscribed on it “in God we Trust.” In times of war our people are encouraged to seek the wisdom of a power beyond ourselves.

This is not promoting a national religion, but a national agreement that we are better when God is involved in the affairs of men and women.

Having a graduation at a church will not convert people to that faith. It will simply celebrate the hard work of the students and honor them with a ceremony that is held in the best place possible.

The School Board has a choice to make now and it will not be an easy one. The ACLU will cause our district to either drop the idea of graduation at First Cathedral or spend money to defend the choice.

The question is simply is the location they chose the best? If it is then stand by what is best for the graduates and celebrate their achievement at First Cathedral.
Greg Stokes