You simply MUST be kidding!

No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery has earned first place in my book if we wish to give out awards for stupid judicial rulings. According to this Fox news article, he has prohibited public prayer at the graduation ceremony of Medina Valley Independent School District in Texas.

Of course I understand that our nation values separation of church and state, but Judge Biery doesn't stop there. He also forbids the use of the following words or phrases:

• prayer
• amen
• join in prayer
• bow their heads
• benediction
• invocation
• in [a deity's name] we pray

And the judge doesn't stop by providing people with a list of banned phrases. He also specifies a few phrases which are to be used instead. Rather than benediction or invocation, “these terms shall be replaced with ‘opening remarks’ and ‘closing remarks’”.

I wonder if Judge Biery would object to me calling him a megalomaniac? It's bad enough that he censors Constitutionally-guaranteed free speech. Now he puts his own words in our mouths.

Judge Biery is a bit of a student of words, it would appear. In an earlier ruling on an unrelated matter, he blamed the advent of air conditioning in Texas for leading to “avaricious, rapacious, and sometimes mendacious development and its ubiquitous impervious cover of asphalt, roofs, concrete, shopping and eating venues”.


Wow.
The judge crowned himself Lord of Language when a lawsuit was filed by Christa and Danny Schultz. Their attorney, Ayesa Khan, claimed that the Schultz's son - who will graduate from Medina Valley this year - experienced "a great deal of anxiety" over the possibility that traumatizing words such as "prayer" or "invocation" might be used at his graduation ceremony.

If THAT causes him "a great deal of anxiety", wait til he experiences the real world.

But Judge Biery's ruling sided with Khan and the Schultz's. Biery even went a few steps further: according to the Fox News report mentioned earlier, "The judge declared that the Schultz family and their son would “suffer irreparable harm” if anyone prayed at the ceremony."

I'm almost moved to tears to think of the damage that could be done to this poor, defenseless child if he were to hear the "P" word.

But once again, I apparently don't understand the gravity of the situation. Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, makes this clear. When the Texas Attorney General characterized the judge's decision as "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” and “attempts by atheists and agnostics to use courts to eliminate from the public landscape any and all references to God whatsoever”, Rev. Lynn vigorously disagreed. He said, “Any attorney general worth his salt would know that’s the issue and that this is not about promoting atheism. That’s ludicrous.”

Speaking of "ludicrous", the judge who banned use of such horrid words as "invocation" and "prayer" did (in the same ruling) allow those at the ceremony to "make the sign of the cross, wear religious garb or kneel to face Mecca".

But don't pray. Lord Biery has threatened to punish violators with "incarceration or other sanctions for contempt of Court if not obeyed by District official (sic) and their agents.”

Now THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is ludicrous.