OFF TOPIC --- Gate City students hope to send message about prayer in response to ACLU

[Guest guest]



If there was a 'degree' or an 'award' for having a backbone, then these kids should have earned it by now!!!!!

GO GATE CITY!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gate City students hope to send message about prayer in response to ACLU

By Wes Bunch

Published September 30th, 2009

 

 

 

GATE CITY — A group of students at Gate City High School is hoping to send a message at Friday’s home football game against Bluefield High School.

They’re wanting to let the American Civil Liberties Union know that nothing can make them quit praying.

“This Friday at the homecoming football game, students, and whomever wants to join, will be saying a prayer,†said Lindsey Burke, a senior and member of the volleyball team at Gate City. “We are also planning to wear the T-shirts at the game. By doing this we are hoping to prove a point ... that no one can stop Christians from praying.â€

Burke and several hundred others plan on wearing black T-shirts that sport the school’s initials and a cross with the phrase “I still pray...†written on the front and “in Jesus’ name†on the back.

The student-led demonstration is in response to a letter the school received from the ACLU last month.

In the letter, the ACLU said a concerned parent had alerted it of a prayer a student said during a memorial service before Gate City’s football game with Sullivan South on Sept. 11.

The ACLU said the prayer violated the First Amendment and asked for the practice to cease immediately.

As a result of the ACLU’s actions, nearly 700 of the $8 shirts were given out at the Crossroads Community Center Wednesday afternoon, with another order approaching 400 on the way soon.

The idea to hold some kind of civil protest was thought up by students over the past few weeks both in and out of class and on Internet message boards.

Shortly after the news broke, the prayer and the ensuing letter became the top conversation among students at Gate City.

“I remember when I first heard about the letter at lunch,†Burke said. “Everybody was talking about it. I could have walked through the school and heard the term ACLU echoing down the halls.â€

Three students at Gate City — seniors Travis Smith, Austin Arwood and Evan DeBoard — came up with the idea for the T-shirts shortly after learning of the ACLU’s letter to Principal Greg Ervin.

“It was just something crazy we thought, something to get the school behind it,†Arwood said. “It definitely became bigger than we expected it to be, but God has a plan for us somehow. We’re just doing it to make a stand that we are Christians and we’re going to step out on faith and do something about it.â€

They came up with the shirt’s slogan from a phrase contained in the ACLU’s letter.

“They said they were concerned about using Jesus’ name in our prayer,†Smith said. “So we came up with a shirt idea that said ‘We Still Pray’ on the front and “In Jesus’ Name, Amen†on the back.â€

It wasn’t long after they came up with the idea to protest the ACLU’s actions that word began to spread and orders for the shirts began to mount up.

A Gate City alumna — Amanda Hartsock — started a group on Facebook supporting the prayer that has added nearly 1,400 members since it was founded Sept. 19.

“It’s gone through Facebook and everything. I’ve had people messaging me on there that I’ve never heard of asking me if they can get a T-shirt,†Arwood said. “It’s gone through Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee like crazy, and it’s real exciting.â€

Students from other schools have also expressed their support, Smith said, with some even requesting a copy of the T-shirt design so they can have their own made.

Not only did the group generate T-shirts sales — they were sold out of the first round in four days — it also sparked conversations on the topic and gave birth to the idea of having spectators participate in a large group prayer prior to the game.

Although the situation has generated some controversy, students said they have seen some good come from it.

“I think it’s only been a positive thing for our community — that’s how I feel anyway,†said junior Tori Bowen, the student who said the prayer at the Sept. 11 game. “It’s something everybody likes to talk about, which is good because people have started talking about God. So it gets people thinking, and that’s a good thing.â€

The letter has also brought much of the student body closer together, Smith said.

“It’s made people come together and stand up for what they believe is right and try to support each other,†Smith said.

Ultimately though, the students who plan on participating Friday said they want their actions to demonstrate the importance of prayer and faith in their lives.

“I think it’s very important to do something like this, especially we as students,†Burke said. “It goes to show that Christianity isn’t obsolete in this day and time when unfortunately faith is dwindling.â€

 

http://www.timesnews.net/print_article.php?id=9017289