High school lifts ban on religious discussions and activities at school

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Pine Creek High School students are now free to engage in religious discussions during lunch.

A lawsuit against Pine Creek High School has been dropped after they removed the ban against students practicing their faith with religious discussions and prayers during the school day. When the principal cited the supposed "separation of church and state," stopping the activities connected with religion at school September 29, a conservative law firm filed a lawsuit against the institution. Fortunately, the matters between the parties are seemingly fine as the administration has reportedly lifted the restriction, causing the case to be dropped.

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Highlights

By Atarah Haely (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
6/10/2015 (8 years ago)

Published in Living Faith

Keywords: Separation of Church and State, Pine Creek High School, Lawsuit, Dropped, Seminar Period, Praying, Faith, Religion, Students

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Although students are now allowed to pray together and discuss religion during lunchtime, The Blaze reported that the seminar period was altogether taken off the schedule for the next school year as per declaration by the district.

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The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Chase Windebank, the senior student at Pine Creek who was told to stop the discussions for the separation to be upheld, is now criticizing the removal of the period though they have withdrawn the lawsuit.

Last year, they argued the session to be an open period that students could use to discuss several matters and worship God, as it is not considered a homeroom time.

"While we commend the school district for recognizing that students have the right to pray and discuss religious topics during lunch, it could have shown greater respect both for the First Amendment freedoms of students and the educational process by simply allowing them to engage in religious conversations during the other free period in the day rather than silence the speech of all students by eliminating that period altogether," said senior legal counsel for the firm, Jeremy Tedesco, in an issued statement as cited in The Blaze.

Nonetheless, students can now use that lunchtime time for various activities from reading to texting, while some, like Windebank and his peers, are practicing their faith and worshipping God without being called upon.

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