Louisiana high school senior Damon Fowler showed great courage when he challenged his school's plan to include prayer in his graduation ceremony. Sadly and predictably, he was bullied and harassed by his fellow students for it, but his complaint led to a change in the program, and the prayer was replaced with a planned moment of silence, a much more inclusive alternative. During the commencement, however, the student charged with leading that moment of silence treated it with contempt, and much of the crowd followed suit.
AU's Sandhya Bathija tells the story:
[D]espite the principal’s assurance that she notified students to make this change, nothing was different at Friday’s graduation ceremony. Student Laci Rae Mattice ignored the law – and common courtesy – and led the audience and her fellow classmates in the Lord’s Prayer.
“I want to ask for the Lord’s blessings upon us,” Mattice said. She received a loud applause from the audience.
Fowler deserved the unqualified support of school officials, and what he got instead was begrudging compliance, the kind that would make other students feel like it wasn't so important to follow the law anyway.
