Louisiana time warp

Church & State, Jun 2000 by Boston, Rob

School Prayer That But Two West Monroe, La., Discovered The Religious Majority Still West Monroe, La., The Religious Majority Still Rules

In some ways, visiting West Moe High School in Ouachita Parish, La., is like stepping into a time wasp.

School officials in this region of north central Louisiana have simply' refused to abide by the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings barring state-sponsored prayer in public schools. Every Monday, a student recites a Christian prayer over the loudspeaker. Vocal prayer takes place in other classes, and some teachers hang Christian posters in their classrooms.

All of this is done with the consent and approval of the system's top school officials. "We have always prayed at football games and at school," Ouachita Parish (County) School Superintendent Lanny Johnson said recently. "And we will probably keep doing it until some judge tells us to stop."

The day when a judge makes that pronouncement may be coming soon. Last December attorneys with Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed a lawsuit in federal court to put an end to school-sponsored prayer in the parish's schools. A federal court heard arguments in the case last month, and a decision is expected soon.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two families in West Monroe who say their children are tired of being subjected to officially sanctioned worship at the high school and junior high school. According to reports received by Americans United, one student who declined to pray was labeled an "atheist" and a "devil worshipper" by fellow students. Another family noted that the religious observances are always fundamentalist Protestant in character. (Unlike heavily Catholic southern Louisiana, the northern region of the state is predominantly Baptist.)

Americans United and the ACLU say it's a shame this dispute had to end up in court - but note that th recalcitrant attitude of school officials choked off other options. The organizations point out that one of the dissident parents tried to resolve the matter by contacting school officials once she found out prayers were taking place in school. However, her telephone call to Johnson was ignored. The parent contacted civil liberties lawyers who wrote a letter to school officials, warning them that the practices are unconstitutional. It too was ignored.

Unable to get satisfaction - or even a response from the school officials Americans United and the local ACLU decided to join forces and file the Doe v. Ouachita Parish School Board lawsuit.

School officials have made their position clear: They have no intention of following the Supreme Court's rulings banning school-sponsored devotions. "Prayer has been a part of this country's heritage forever," Principal Ernest "Buddy" Reed of West Monroe High told the Ouachita Citizen last December. "The community fully supports this, and we're not going to change the direction or expectations for our school - and we're certainly not going to back down from the ACLU."

Several days later, members of the school board voted unanimously to fight the lawsuit. "We have become complacent in letting various groups erode some of our rights and freedoms over the years," charged Greg Manley, the board's vice president. "I feel the forefathers founded this great country on godly principles and on something that God was needed in our society and in our school system. The bottom line is not what I, you or a judge think. It's what the students think."

Days later Manley sounded an even more defiant note, telling the Monroe News-Star, "We are looking forward to the opportunity for the people to show their support for keeping student-led prayer in the Ouachita Parish School system. We did not create the lawsuit. The ACLU did. But the ACLU can rest assured that we are going to use all resources available to make sure that we keep student-led prayer in the Ouachita Parish School system."

Manley, Reed and other officials in the school system frequently argue that the prayers are permissible because they are "student-led." But an audiotape of a typical prayer session indicated clear school involvement. On the tape, Reed is heard urging all teachers and students to "please join us now for our prayer and pledge:' He then says, "Bow with me." The voice of a student is then heard reciting the prayer, which is replete with references to "the Lord."

During a CBS News documentary on school prayer, Chad Pilcher, a student who favors the school's policy, insisted that students of other faiths would be permuted to recite their prayers over the loudspeaker as well. In fact, the prayers are always recited by members of the Fellowship of Christian Students and are fundamentalist Christian in character. One Catholic student told CBS she has never heard a non-fundamentalist prayer recited.

Attorneys with Americans United argue that in their quest to keep official prayer, school administrators in the parish are being aided and abetted by Louisiana lawmakers. They note that last summer the Democrat-controlled legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill designed to reinstate organized prayer, a measure that was later signed into law by the state's Republican governor, Mike Foster.