Louisiana High School Seniors Pray at Graduation despite Threats of a Lawsuit

Aimee Herd : May 25, 2011
News Staff – CBN News

"I respect the beliefs of other people, but I feel that I can't go on without giving glory to my Lord today." -Laci Mattice

Laci Rae Mattice, a senior at Bastrop High School in Louisiana, bravely exercised her First Amendment rights (specifically: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech") when she paused to publicly pray the Lord's Prayer during her school's graduation ceremony.

It was a gutsy move because an atheist student from the high school, who was also graduating, had threatened to go to the ACLU for help in bringing a lawsuit against the school if they continued their tradition of prayer at the graduation.

The school had removed all mention of prayer from the ceremony program replacing it with a "moment of silence." However, that didn't stop Laci, who proceeded to pray anyway, just before leading the crowd in the scheduled moment of silence.

"I respect the beliefs of other people," said Laci from the podium. "But I feel that I can't go on without giving glory to my Lord today. I want to ask for the Lord's blessings upon us." She then invited her fellow students to pray with her "if [they] want to."

Matthew Staver, of the Liberty Council applauded the senior's brave move explaining, "The Constitution does not require that graduation be free of religious people or speech. Students have the right to express secular and religious viewpoints at graduation. To censor only the religious viewpoints is intolerant and unconstitutional."

Watch the video of Laci's prayer at her graduation by accessing the source link provided.