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Evers Backing Bills On School Prayer, Right To Address Government
January 19, 2012
State Sen. Greg Evers is co-sponsoring two free speech bills — one guaranteeing the right to student-led prayer and one guaranteeing the right of citizens to speak publicly to governing bodies.
Evers’ co-sponsored Senate Bill 98 allows students to lead or participate in prayer at secondary school events. The bill has passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, its second committee stop.
And Senate Bill 206 would give Floridians the right to make public comment at meetings of state local governments. The bill has passed the Rules Subcommittee on Ethics and Elections and is now heading to the Senate Committee on Rules for its second committee stop.
Comments
31 Responses to “Evers Backing Bills On School Prayer, Right To Address Government”
REGARDING:
“- – - the public that can not, or will not, try to understand ”
Interesting belief that the public is too ignorant or stupid to understand what’s going on in Tallahassee.
David wondering if dictators are needed
(for our own good, of course)
Oh I think he knows what he is doing,I think it is the public that can not, or will not, try to understand what the bill is.
DAVID. I don’t always agree with you but this time I do on your comment about Evers “not realizing what the bill means, just sounds good to him”. It’s a sad situation when law makers push and pass bills they do not understand or have to help due to a “pay back”. IE- septic tank inspection, not having to replace or pay for trees cut down on the side of the highway and on and on.
REGARDING:
“Got love southern politics. ”
Every area has matters which concern them above others. Besides you might note that bringing up a given subject does not mean instant agreement, nor does it assure votes.
In all likelihood he doesn’t realize what his bill means, just sounds good to him. After all, freedom is a good thing and to be sought even if you have to force it on others, just as we‘ve so successfully imposed democracy on Iraq and Afghanistan.
David considering voila
and misperceptions
and good intentions
See Greg Evers pushed the evangelical button, and wala, it works every time!! When Southern politicians get caught feeding their high priority contributors they pull out of the hat a evangelical issue and they are a hero again. Got love southern politics. IF that doesn’t work GUNS will.
“So does any one have a problem with ‘one nation under God’ or do we need to get rid of that also? While we are at it do we need to do away with ‘In God we trust?”
I needs to go also. It wasn’t part of the pledge until 1954 during McCarthy’s red scare.
REGARDING:
“I think more accurately, Baptists are a Protestant denomination of Christianity.”
-NotAgain for accuracy
Many Protestants like to think so but Baptists tend not to agree. Protestant churches are churches which left the Roman Catholic Church in protest over doctrinal issues (things like selling forgiveness, not granting divorces without a payoff, salvation by means other than faith, forbidding to marry, whatever minor differences they just couldn’t stomach) but in their heart of hearts they still believe in the Pope as the leader of all churches on Earth. Baptist believe that concept is a bunch of hogwash not in line with the teachings of Christ, that there is nothing the Pope could correct which would make true Baptists put their faith in the Pope as an intermediary between people and our Lord, Jesus Christ.
David for greater accuracy
So does any one have a problem with ‘one nation under God’ or do we need to get rid of that also? While we are at it do we need to do away with ‘In God we trust?
REGARDING:
“although properly it would be called the Christian religion as practiced by Baptists.”
I think more accurately, Baptists are a Protestant denomination of Christianity.
-NotAgain for accuracy
Read Mathew 6:6 (for Christians) and obey your Bible.
We all pay for this service (schools). Religion is a private matter and should be kept private. If you want to open the door to freedom of speech in schools, despite and ignoring the educational mission, then consider the consequences. You can’t make only Christian prayer permissible and exclude Satanists, Muslims, Atheist speech, etc. Christians, please show a little respect for others by keeping school only for secular education building skills, learning facts, etc. No Mother Goose, no ranting, no raving, no speaking in tongues, snake handling, voodoo doll pinning, etc.
REGARDING:
“The Baptist Religion is not the only religion in the WORLD”
True, but it is the best (in my biased opinion), although properly it would be called the Christian religion as practiced by Baptists.
One of the main parts of it is that prayer isn’t to be empty sounds without meaning but to be a person speaking to his or her Heavenly Father. Getting anyone to pray by anything other than personal desire to do so is a violation of that purpose even though it is part of other religions. Further, it reduces the likelihood of true religion since it involves an approach other than that which the Lord says he will hear.
David for prayers acceptable to God if possible
Well any way, good bill and good job, Greg, I know many of us who agree with your bill(having read it) and agree with your efforts. God Bless you.
BOB– Do you mean a secondary event such as high school graduation? I guess it’s kind of like the old country song said “Is there dust on the Bible?”. I have no problem with a person saying a prayer, but to force others to say it or leave the room is wrong. There is a very bitter law case going on right now that will reach the the high courts soon about prayer once more and it will most likely end the same way as others. I view my God as I do— others should be able to do the same. I feel no need to stand on a street corner and yell at others that they are going to hell for not accepting my view. Looking at the grades in some of our schools maybe we should take more time teaching school subjects and try to let the parents and churches take care of the rest.
You are right Bob it certainly is hard to believe how intolerant people can be.
Let’s make everyone who doesn’t believe like us STAY HOME.
Read the bill,student lead prayer, at a secondary event, this is in no way about government endorsed prayer. First if a student wish to pray,I am sure he or she is not being forced to. if it is a secondary event, and then if you know,and you are going to be offended, do not go. like I have stated.government should not reach religion.But there is nothing wrong with an acknowledgement of GOD It is hard to believe how intolerant some people can be..
All this time and my money to be spent to pass a bill on this subject over
and over again. Parents screaming to MAKE EVERY ONE’S children spend
time in school to say THEIR Belief’s Prayers.
If any children wants to pray in school, let them ALL bow their heads
and pray to whom each child has been schooled to pray to by their
parents.
What this bill is, is to take away anyone else’s right to pray to the
name of the higher power that THEY personally believe in, in other
words shove THEIR religion down everyone else’s throat.
The Baptist Religion is not the only religion in the WORLD.
MAYBE the SCHOOLS should practice the prayer in LATIN like
the CATHOLICS ( MY FAITH)….. Where does this end.
If you want your children to go to Christian Schools….YOU pay for
it. THIS is absolutely WHY the MIDDLE-EAST and so many countries
have had fights for CENTURIES.
THIS IS THE LAND OF THE FREE….FREEDOM OF CHOICE FOR EVERYTHING
FOR EVERYONE.
Maybe the children’s time would be better spent on what they are IN SCHOOL
for, and maybe their parents time would be better spent MAKING their children
DO THEIR HOMEWORK.
STOP WAISTING MY TAX DOLLARS EVERS AND DO THE WORK THAT
MAKES AMERICA BETTER THAN THIS IN POLITICS.
Thanks
This is crazy, Evers is just trying to appeal to the evangelicals, because they sucker every time. Say the word prayer and they got a fight going. Its a political move, there are key words that get the evangelicals up in arms and he knows which ones to pick, prayer, abortion. Watch em go now.
If evers must sponcer a new bill, how about term limits? Much like w.d., he has become useless to the tax payers!
Maybe the important thing is the right to speak at local/state government meetings. If you lose that, you also lose the right to voice all these opinions on prayer! And I bet many of you don’t take time to email your government legislators or call/mail them as to what your opinions are. This includes your County Commissioners, etc. Our Constitution gives us the right of free speech. What it doesn’t say is that we have the right to stand up and voice our opinions at government meetings. So if you disagree with what is happening in our government, tell them. Make your opinions known!
I’ll say it again. Prayer and religion has its place, the home and the church. Public school is meant to provide an education, to prepare one for life in a competitive job market. As for the red light cameras, if you stop, you don’t have to worry about them. Looks like Greg is just doing some old fashion political posturing.
REGARDING:
“Prayer teaches respect.”
Not necessarily. Prayer can be many things including, “Lord rain down fire on my enemies. Lord give me a new bass boat. Lord give me….”
For that matter, I remember hearing a few years back of a football player overheard praying, “Satan, give me power over my enemies.” I hope it was just a false rumor but Jesus made it clear many people who prayed within themselves were not justified nor were their prayers acceptable. And we know many pray to different gods for their desires.
David for caution
God said to be tolerant and to pray for your enemies, he did not say give up.Prayer teaches respect.Deny me before man,and I will deny you before the Father.If you chose not to pray, so be it.Its called tolerance.But it seems that their are those who wish to push their own agenda, and make the rest of us comply. Well, get offend, like I stated earlier, I do not care. grow up. The problem we have is we have been to tolerant. Well enough is enough. Time to push back.So whats next? Removal of all reference to God on all government owned land? Well The ACLU is working on that.Please feel free to search/engine just how far they wish to take us to a Godless nation.
Between this and his support of the removal of red-light cameras, Mr. Evers is one of the best local politicians in my opinion.
MR– We have both read the same part of the Bible. If I wish to pray I do not need to make a big show of it, it is only between my God and myself. If a child is of another faith and is told to leave the room or made to feel like an outsider in any way it is wrong. Maybe Evers needs to go back to helping the sign business. How about pushing for a one cent tax on each can of beer sold and giving it to the school systems. Don’t sell out to the beer lobby this time
Matthew 6:5 ESV / 26 helpful votes
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
HelpfulNot Helpful
Matthew 6:6 ESV / 23 helpful votes
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
There is no law in the Constitution of the United States that prohibits the profession or exercise of a persons’ faith. That includes on government property.
A recent poll shows 84% of Americans know this to be true and have no problem
with prayer, or the mention of God in public reguardless of the location. This would include courts, schools, and all other government facilities.
It is the court system that has taken on the roll of writting law instead of defining
it as intended by the founding fathers. These federal judges, appointed for life,
allow their political affiliations control how they rule so the outcome is mostly
along party lines. This really came into play when FDR inflated the Supreme
Court with extra judges to move the balance in favor of liberal agenda. Our
American way of life has suffered because of this. Our freedom of religion,
as well as the right of Americans to own guns has come under attack. Some
see no problem with this, but bear in mind, if one or 2 of the “BILL of RIGHTS”
is distroyed the rest will soon fall.
Think about it, it’s freedom of speech to curse the teacher in public school, but
a student can be punished for saying Jesus is Lord!
Thank you Greg, This is a much need law. Since when did saying the word God,or expressing one’s belief be come so wrong?I am fed up with having to tippy toe around some one just because they might be “offended” I really do not care if you are offended..A prayer has never hurt any one.Tell you what, if you are on an airplane, and it starts to fall out of the sky, you never hear any one jump up and start cursing God. Well I never have.Do you trust any one who does not believe in the 10 commandments?Why should you? For far to long we have allowed the liberals and the ACLU to take away our religious freedoms in the name of being politically correct or that we many offend some one. Do I want government to teach religion? NO, government messes up ever thing.and that is for the churches to do.But it seems that some in our government and some in our nation have become intolerant of the mention of God. Take God out of government,and you have a godless government, just like Russia,or China. Is that what we want?
As an avid Christian I believe a person should be allowed to express his, or her,
faith at anytime their spirit moves them. This without reguard to their physical location at the time. I believe the constitution guarentees this as there is no mention of limits as to religious symbols, rituals, prayers, etc. being on public
lands or government buildings. After all, look at the Federal buildings in Washington D. C. with their religious(mainly Christian I might add) words and symbols on them. Look at our money “IN GOD WE TRUST” on it.
No people are truly “free” when the practice of their faith is restricted by court deffinition, not law. The courts seem to side with a minority of people(atheist)
over the majority of citizens that do believe and rule that expressing your faith
in public places tends to “make them feel left out”, or “hurts their feelings”.
In 60 years, I have learned you can’t hurt someones’ feelings or make them feel
left out if that person doesen’t give his, or her, permission. For a mature adult
to allow someone eles to control their feelings and emotions is very childish.
I suppose this is why so many nonreligious people use school children in their
suits against the Second Amendment.
I don’t believe a perticular religion should be taught in public schools as I will
teach my family at home and in my church as to their spiritual needs. However,
a student , I believe, has a right by the constitution to “express themselves” in
prayer without restriction as to their location.
It is a sad day in the United States when a student can stand up in class and
legally curse the teacher as “freedom of speech’, but the same student will be
punished for saying Jesus Christg is Lord”.
Thank you, for helping to place God back into our childrens lives. If all Christian parents stand up and support this bill it will pass. Thats why it was removed in the first place everyone fussed but noone did anything. “you will denigh knowing me” saith the Lord. The statistics say that only 8% of the population do not believe in a faith, and most of them could care less. So stand up and proclaim your Christianity and put God back into our childrens lives and enviorment. If we all voice our rights then they cannot denigh it. Prove your dedication. NOW IS THE TIME
I believe those are already guaranteed in the Florida constitution, aren’t they?
If you want to do something constructive, Sen. Evers, sponsor a bill nullifying any federal law inconsistent with the Florida (or US) constitution.
School prayer? I dont get it, we have free speech, you are free to sit at your desk in school and pray all day to yourself.
The issue here is not use government money to fund anything religious, this is a good thing ( You wouldnt want your tax dollars to fund an Islamic school right? )
Why not just have a “moment of silence” so people of all faiths could just pray to whatever it is they want, to themselves.
I dont see the need to make a personal belief so public