(Showdown at Sad Hill Cemetery – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)

This is where Sad Hill* draws the line. How about you Texas?!

(FoxNews) A federal judge has ordered a Texas school district to prohibit public prayer at a high school graduation ceremony.

Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s order against the Medina Valley Independent School District also forbids students from using specific religious words including “prayer” and “amen.”

The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Christa and Danny Schultz. Their son is among those scheduled to participate in Saturday’s graduation ceremony. The judge declared that the Schultz family and their son would “suffer irreparable harm” if anyone prayed at the ceremony.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the school district is in the process of appealing the ruling, and his office has agreed to file a brief in their support.

“Part of this goes to the very heart of the unraveling of moral values in this country,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told Fox News Radio, saying the judge wanted to turn school administrators into “speech police.”

“I’ve never seen such a restriction on speech issued by a court or the government,” Abbott told Fox News Radio. “It seems like a trampling of the First Amendment rather than protecting the First Amendment.”

Judge Biery’s ruling banned students and other speakers from using religious language in their speeches. Among the banned words or phrases are: “join in prayer,” “bow their heads,” “amen,” and “prayer.”

He also ordered the school district to remove the terms “invocation” and “benediction” from the graduation program.

“These terms shall be replaced with ‘opening remarks’ and ‘closing remarks,’” the judge’s order stated. His ruling also prohibits anyone from saying, “in [a deity’s name] we pray.”

Should a student violate the order, school district officials could find themselves in legal trouble. Judge Biery ordered that his ruling be “enforced by incarceration or other sanctions for contempt of Court if not obeyed by District official (sic) and their agents.”

The Texas attorney general called the ruling unconstitutional and a blatant attack from those who do not believe in God — “attempts by atheists and agnostics to use courts to eliminate from the public landscape any and all references to God whatsoever.”

“This is the challenge we are dealing with here,” he said. “(It’s) an ongoing attempt to purge God from the public setting while at the same time demanding from the courts an increased yielding to all things atheist and agnostic.”

~snip~

*A masterful retort from one of Sad Hill’s favorite authors Oswald Chambers:

“Some of us run away instead of standing; when there is a fresh onslaught of the wiles of the devil we lose heart instantly; and instead of standing we scuttle, and others have to stand until we are sufficiently ashamed to come back again. We have to take on the initiative in standing against panic. One strong moral man will form a nucleus around which others will gather; and spiritually, if we put on the armour of God and stand true to Him, a whole army of weak-kneed Christians will be strengthened. Remember, we have to take the initiative where we are, not where we are not.”

UPDATE (06.03.2011 – Big hat tip Rebecca on Facebook): Texas Makes A Stand – Victory!

(Fox) A federal appeals court has lifted the order banning public prayer at a Texas high school graduation Saturday.

The reversal comes on the heels of increasing criticism of a federal judge’s earlier ruling that agreed with the parents of one graduating student that religious expression during the ceremony at Medina Valley Independent School District would cause “irreparable harm” to their son.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals thought differently, reversing the judge’s ruling Friday and allowing students to say the word “amen” and invite the audience to pray during the ceremony.

“This is a complete victory for religious freedom and for Angela,” said Kelly Shackelford, president/CEO of Liberty Institute, which had represented class valedictorian Angela Hildenbrand in the appeal. “We are thrilled that she will be able to give her prayer without censorship in her valedictorian speech tomorrow night. No citizen has the right to ask the government to bind and gag the free speech of another citizen.”

~snip~

Obama removes Christian symbols at Georgetown University: HERE

Wounded Marine, Clebe McClary, ‘too evangelical’ for USAFA prayer luncheon: HERE and HERE

‘Mikey’ Weinstein gets Franklin Graham disinvited from National Day Of Prayer: HERE

Rev. Franklin Graham banned from National Day of Prayer: HERE and HERE

God couldn’t save the Queen from Obama: HERE

Obama Christ, ‘My people, you continue to have my blessing’: HERE

Obama gets religion to sell ObamaCare: HERE

Oprah denies Jesus as the only way to salvation: HERE

Destroying your hope: HERE

Weak-Kneed Christians: HERE

Dude, what’s with the name, ‘Sad Hill’? Go: HERE or HERE

h/t: Jim R (Thanks buddy!)