Judge allows Brookfield high school graduation ceremonies in church

A bit dated, but was requested to crosspost here-

Brookfield Central and East high schools can hold their upcoming graduation ceremonies in a nearby megachurch, as they have been doing for nearly a decade, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

"A ceremony in a church does not necessarily constitute a church ceremony," Clevert said from the bench.

In his ruling, Clevert rejected the comparison between holding a secular graduation ceremony in a church with a graduation ceremony that includes a prayer, which the U.S. Supreme Court has held unconstitutional.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/46731582.html

From what I get from this, because prayer is not performed, it's still considered a secular event despite all the symbolism?
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Who in their sane mind would even schedule a graduation ceremony in a religious building? WTF?

Turns out an administrator is involved with the church. Talk about conflict of interest. At least this won't happen again as their gyms have been reconstructed to hold the ceremonies in the future.

Perhaps the church allows it's parishioners to rent out the hall at a discount.

large enough and cheap enough to rent. The school may not have any other really good venue. As long as they don't endorse the religion of the church, they are probably OK. Sounds like they are using the church. It's not the church getting involved in the graduation ceremony.

It was the only affordable venue available that had enough parking and could accommodate that many people. I don't recall anybody making a big deal out of it. The church did a pretty good job and plastered the alter in the school colors and provided a sound and lighting tech to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

My graduation a few years earlier from the same high school had been held at a hotel and it was just a disaster, not enough parking, families were limited to six - which excluded alot of extended family. The hotel began turning people away from the parking lot and directed them to park at Disneyland where they were picked up by the hotel shuttle bus!

I am as militant an atheist as they come, but at the end of the day a church is just a building it is the fucktards who congregate there that are objectionable.

Most high schools cannot accommodate the large crowd a graduation draws.

Is there anyone here who thinks this decision would be just the same, by either the administrators of the school or by the judge?

Kudos for the strawmanning.

The point being that the type of church will make a great difference in whether this is deemed acceptable or not.

Edited to add: If any sort of church would be unacceptable then they all should be.

And we all know that a Satanist church would be unacceptable.

in Cherokee County, Georgia, where I live. Of course, this is Georgia where there is a church every few blocks.

Creekview High School graduates celebrated at their commencement ceremony held at the First Baptist Church of Woodstock May 29. It was the first graduation for the new high school in northeast Cherokee.

www.ledgernews.com/

Did anyone really ask the building whether it had any religious convictions?

If it is the only decent sized auditorium, what's the problem?

Our public school district has high school graduations in churches every year and has been doing so for decades. I guess I am more stunned by the objection to using the best most convenient large facility. This is really a non-issue, IMO.

A HUGE one...far bigger, comfortable and classy than anything the school district has.

Both of my kids had their ceremonies there...no mention of religion. I see no problem if this is to find bigger facilities or cut costs. It's for a couple hours...the world won't implode.

Not everything is a conspiracy, you know.

dg