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Remington Reimer, Valedictorian of his graduating class, had his microphone turned off during his address at Liberty High School's graduation on June 6.
I wrote about it in this Blog and talked about it on my live radio program.
Now we have learned that Reimer's principal, Mark Cochran, has threatened to punish Reimer for his comments by writing a letter to the US Naval Academy where Reimer has already been accepted.
The principal has said he will advise the Academy that Reimer has "poor character."
This is much more than a local isolated incident. It reveals the aggressive nature of the censorship, denial of expression of free speech and religious discrimination that exists in government run schools toward Christian students and their families.
We are learning that not only is the school attempting to illegally censor a student's remarks about his faith and the Constitution and punish the student for his remarks, but the school itself failed to comply with its own policy in regard to speeches given at graduation events.
Let's look at the details.
Attorney Hiram Sasser with Liberty Institute has now taken the case and will defend the student Remington Reimer.
Reimer says, "It was intimidating having my high school principal threaten my future because I wanted to stand up for the Constitution and acknowledge my faith and not simply read a government approved speech."
Sasser says the speech was "edited and revised by four different school officials" and that is 'censorship' and it violated federal and state laws."
The principal told the student's father the day after the graduation that he "intended to punish Remington for his perceived misdeed."
Sasser says the principal said he wanted to ruin him for what he did---"for talking about the Constitution and his personal faith in Jesus Christ."
Here's what Remington actually said:
“We are all fortunate to live in a country where we can express our beliefs, where our mics won’t be turned off, as I have been threatened to be if I veer away from the school-censored speech I have just finished. Just as Jesus spoke out against the authority of the Pharisees and Sadducees, who tried to silence him, I will not have my freedom of speech taken away from me. And I urge you all to do the same. Do not let anyone take away your religious or Constitutional rights from you.”
Principal Mick Cochran said, “The district has reviewed the rules and policies regarding graduation speeches and has determined that the policy was followed last night.”
Sasser says the school district violated state and federal laws by censoring Reimer’s speech. He said the law, along with local school policy, requires the school to distance itself from the valedictorian’s speech. That means not editing or drafting the speech.
The school was also required to publish a message in the graduation program that read in part, “the content of each student-speaker’s message is the private expression of the individual student and does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position or expression of the District.”
The District failed to do so.
Question: Why is a principal intent on destroying a student's career, if the principal is merely enforcing policy?
I'll be talking about this in more depth on the radio this morning. Please join me live at 9 AM (PDT) or the rebroadcast at 7:30 PM (PDT). You may listen on these stations in Washington State, your computer or with a free app for your phone. Click here for links.
The principal's action and attitude reveals one of two things. Either he is terribly misinformed and fearful of a lawsuit by the ACLU, which often happens. OR. He is personally advancing the anti-Christian agenda that is pervasive in our government run public schools.
Public education will bend to the point of insanity to accommodate and advance the LGBT agenda. And that of Planned Parenthood.
They are now allowing students to choose which restroom they will use depending on which gender they choose to be. Honest.
Students or teachers who affirm that they believe marriage is between one man and one woman are labeled bigots and haters and accused of bullying if they say it out loud.
Anything less than full endorsement and affirmation of the homosexual lifestyle is "intolerance" and "hate."
Life is so devalued that killing a living pre-born child is a "choice" and abortion is "women's health".
Abortion has become a mere birth control option.
The fountain head of all this indoctrination is public, government run schools, with curriculum provided by homosexual advocacy groups and Planned Parenthood.
When a Christian student breaks rank with the march toward secular progressivism and a principal commits himself to destroying the student's career, it should be evident that this is not merely enforcing policy.
We will follow this as it proceeds.
Public education is the center piece for advancing the secular progressive agenda. Project 21, Common Core and Sustained Development are all related, but separate vehicles used by public education to "remake America."
And there is not a greater advocate than President Obama.
Just last week President Obama told a crowd in Boston, as he promoted the idea of continuing to grow the government, that "government can help by educating our children from the earliest years."
Indeed it can and will unless people of faith stand and resist.
And Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, in sync with the "agenda" said the government run pre-school that the president is pushing for is "better than grandma."
I suspect that grandma may well pose a challenge in that she might still be clinging to traditional values.
There is work to do. The opposition to traditional biblical values in our culture is significant, however, the Christian faith has stood the test of time because it is eternal Truth. Secular progressivism has always failed in its social experimentation.
Stand firm. Keep looking up.
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Active. Be Blessed.
