Does “God Bless America” Violate the Establishment Clause?
Commentary by Arlene Sawicki, Illinois Just in time to shed light on the controversy caused by one atheist, freshman student council member at Buffalo Grove High School (Illinois) who suggested that the song “God Bless America” is not appropriate to be played over the PA system for their upcoming homecoming events, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is distributing an informational letter outlining the rights of student to express their religious faith in a public school setting. http://www.aclj.org/media/pdf/SYATPLetter.pdf This ACLJ letter focuses on the annual “See You at the Pole” event scheduled for September 26th, but also applies to free speech guidelines for any form of student-led and student-initiated movement to express their religious beliefs on campus. To quote the ACLJ letter: “Student prayer is a protected form of speech that cannot be banned by school officials, including prayer at ‘See You at the Pole’ events. A school official who refuses to allow students
