Shhhhh! Don't use the "G-Word"

Here's a disturbing story from Clark County, Nevada:

She knew her speech as valedictorian of Foothill High School would be cut short, but Brittany McComb was determined to tell her fellow graduates what was on her mind and in her heart.

But before she could get to the word in her speech that meant the most to her -- Christ -- her microphone went dead. ...

Clark County School District officials and an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday that cutting McComb's mic was the right call. Graduation ceremonies are school-sponsored events, a stance supported by federal court rulings, and as such may include religious references but not proselytizing, they said.
They said McComb's speech amounted to proselytizing and that her commentary could have been perceived as school-sponsored.

Before she delivered her commencement speech, McComb met with Foothill administrators, who edited her remarks. It's standard district practice to have graduation speeches vetted before they are read publicly.

School officials removed from McComb's speech some biblical references and the only reference to Christ.

That's why, for what she said was the first time in her life, the valedictorian who graduated with a 4.7 GPA rebelled.

"I went through four years of school at Foothill and they taught me logic and they taught me freedom of speech," McComb said. "God's the biggest part of my life. Just like other valedictorians thank their parents, I wanted to thank my lord and savior."

It's sad how the mere mention of Christ's name can provoke such intolerant excess from the anti-Christian Left.

Normally, I would say that teaching kids to defy authority is a bad thing, but this case and others like it are unique. I am a "law-and-order" conservative, through and through, but when we teach young people that they should play by the rules and respect authority, the underlying assumption is that the rules have been made legitimately. When laws are made and order is enforced by usurpers and miscreants, we are under no obligation - morally or otherwise - to abide by them.

One of the most outstanding virtues of American civilization is its religious tolerance; it is a virtue fostered by the thoughtful humility of the American people and necessitated by the various guarantees of religious freedom in our federal and state constitutions. It is also one that the Left - in its repulsion for "virtues" of any sort - has tried its best to undermine and ultimately eradicate, at least when the toleration of Christians is at issue.

Whether or not they were acting on faith, Clark County, Nevada school administrators have proven themselves quite capable of performing the works necessary to appease the Godless Left. By censoring all meaningful references to "God" and "Christ," they will certainly win the favor of the ACLU and its friends for years to come.

Meanwhile, Miss McComb can rest assured that she did the right thing. By forcing the hand of school administrators, she helped to illustrate once again just how far the Left will go to silence dissent and to eliminate all discussion of God from the public sphere. She showed more wisdom than a roomful of ACLU attorneys when she said: "People aren't stupid and they know we have freedom of speech and the district wasn't advocating my ideas...Those are my opinions...It's what I believe."

The only suggestion I have for Miss McComb is this: the next time you make a speech, bring a bullhorn...just in case.