School Tells Kids to Stop Praying to Jesus and Singing Amazing Grace

by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton | November 11, 2014 9:45 am

The war on Christianity and our Constitutional rights continues apace in Colorado Springs. Todd Starnes has penned an excellent piece on Chase Windebank, who is a senior at Pine Creek High School. Chase has run afoul of the principle and the school authorities. What did he do that was so egregious? During a free period at school, he would gather with other Christian students to pray for each other and sing hymns such as Amazing Grace. The horror of it all! In a direct violation of Chase’s Constitutional rights, he was told in no uncertain terms that it was a violation of church and state and to knock it off. Even though, they had been gathering for three years… even though, it was during a free period. No non-government sanctioned theology allowed[1].

Chase Windebank, a senior at Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs

From TPNN[2]:

Christian students at a Colorado public high school were told they could no longer meet to pray, sing religious songs or discuss religious topics during free time – because such activity violated the U.S. Constitution, a lawsuit filed in federal court alleges[3].

Chase Windebank is a senior at Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs. Three years ago he started meeting together informally with his classmates for prayer and religious fellowship. The young people would meet in an unoccupied choir room to sing songs like “Amazing Grace” and discuss the issues of the day from a religious perspective.

But all that changed on Sept. 29th when Chase was summoned to the office of Assistant Principal James Lucas.

“He was told that he could no longer pray with his fellow students during free time because of the separation of church and state,” said Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney representing the teenager.

Tedesco is with Alliance Defending Freedom, a law firm that specializes in handling religious liberty cases.

“He was told that he could pray before the school day begins or after the school day ends but he could not do it during the school day,” Tedesco told me.

To make sure Chase got the message – he was hauled into Principal Kolette Back’s office the following day where it was “reaffirmed that his religious speech could not take place during the open time” known as a “Seminar” period.

The lawsuit states: [4]“Defendants Back and Lucas stated that because of the separation of church and state and because they regarded the Seminar period as instructional time, they were banning students’ discussion of issues of the day from a religious perspective during the open time of Seminar period.”

Pine Creek is a part of Academy School District No. 20. A spokesperson for the district confirmed that the group was told to disband in accordance with state law.

“Students were told that, according to state law and district policy, they could meet during non-instructional time,” the spokesperson told me in a written statement. “That is before or after school.”

One wonders if the same would hold true for Satanists or Muslims on school grounds. If a school takes funds from the government, then they have signed a devil’s covenant to abide by fascist rules. The Obama Administration hates Christians – period. They have sent out the word that there will be no Christian shenanigans on public school property during school hours and the schools bow deeply to their overlords. It saddens me that this young man and his group meekly agreed to abide by the school rules. Christians need to stand up to this type of bullying aggressively. This school is just one more school where you will no longer be allowed to pray or practice your Constitutional rights freely.