Bachmann on school prayer: ACLU trying to ‘purge’ religious expression from ‘marketplace of ideas’

Rep. Michele Bachmann took to the House floor to defend school prayer on Tuesday, after two Florida school employees allegedly violated a court order against prayer during a teacher’s luncheon.

“Mr. Speaker, the problem is that this displays a trend and a tendency that we are seeing where groups like the ACLU strike at one school district after another, one public display of religious expression after another, until they have reached their ultimate goal, which is to purge the marketplace of ideas of any semblance of religious expression,” Bachmann said.

Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., brought a letter forward in the House signed by 60 members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, including Bachmann, supporting Pace High School principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman.

If such squelching of religious speech comes to pass, Bachmann said in her floor speech (video below), “we will have turned the First Amendment on its head, and the Founders in turn will be rolling in their graves. I thank Mr. Forbes for bringing this to the attention of this body, and I share his shock, I share his dismay that criminal charges were brought on behalf of … Mr. Lay and Mr. Freeman for the simple act of engaging in prayer.”

Except it wasn’t such a simple act. The school was already in hot water because employees were openly evangelizing to the students.

“The defendants all admitted wrongdoing,” said Daniel Mach of the ACLU, which had filed a complaint against the school. “For example, the Pace High School teachers handbook asks teachers to ’embrace every opportunity to inculcate, by precept and example, the practice of every Christian virtue.’ “

“There were some of the most egregious First Amendment violations you’ll see,” ACLU spokeman Will Matthews, told USA Today.

The case was settled out of court in January when the school agreed to a court order barring religious worship at school-sponsored events. But just days after the settlement, the ACLU charges, Lay asked for a prayer over food at a school event during school hours, allegedly in violation that agreement. The school says no students were present. The ACLU says they were.

If the court rules against the school employees, they face up to 6 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Full text of Bachmann’s statement:

Mrs. BACHMANN. Mr. Speaker, prayer has been an important part of our country since the founding of our great Nation, and attempts to take prayer away from the American people are attempts to take away the essential freedoms that have been guaranteed to every American since the beginning of our United States Constitution.

I thank Mr. Forbes for bringing this to the attention of this body, and I share his shock, I share his dismay that criminal charges were brought on behalf of Mrs. Winkler, Mr. Lay and Mr. Freeman for the simple act of engaging in prayer.

As the court explained in Santa Fe, not all religious speech that occurs in public schools or at school-sponsored events is speech attributable to government. There were no students present at either event.

Additionally, the court held the proposition that schools do not endorse everything they fail to sensor is not complicated. The Supreme Court held that “there is a crucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the establishment clause forbids, and private speech endorsing religion, which the free speech and free exercise clauses protect.”

In no way were these individuals trying to associate the school with prayer. They were offering the prayer, one at a privately funded event, the other at an event with private donors. The court held that “private religious speech, far from being a First Amendment orphan, is as fully protected under the free speech clause as secular private expression.”

Teachers and administrators, when they act in their official capacity, may not encourage or discourage or participate in prayer with students. However, teachers may take part in religious activities before or after school or during lunch since the context makes clear they are not acting in an official capacity. Although schools may not direct or endorse religious activities, students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that this displays a trend and a tendency that we are seeing where groups like the ACLU strike at one school district after another, one public display of religious expression after another, until they have reached their ultimate goal, which is to purge the marketplace of ideas of any semblance of religious expression. At that point, Mr. Speaker, we will have turned the First Amendment on its head, and the Founders in turn will be rolling in their graves.