Say it

By Times staff reports

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 25, 2001

Seniors at Lecanto High School were asked: "What is your opinion of exclusively Christian prayer at Citrus School District functions?"

AMBER CAMILLERI, 18 "I think I'd have to go with the moment of silence since school board members are elected and they're serving the entire community and not any particular religion. If it's strictly Christian prayer, they're excluding people of other religions and if it's a moment of silence, everyone can do what they need to do."

KEN CRANDALL, 18 "I feel that prayer's important at any function, however it is difficult to come up with a non-denominational prayer to make everyone happy, so a moment of silence would be the best solution to the conflict. It gives everybody the opportunity to pray according to their denominations and not be offended by exclusive use of a particular religion."

JEREMY BRUNSINK, 18 "I'm for the moment of silence as opposed to the open prayer for the reason that the open prayer does exclude members of other faiths, no matter how it is worded and the moment of silence allows for members of other religions to feel included instead of being singled out."

AILEEN MANGO, 17 "I feel that taking Jesus Christ out of the prayer would be like taking Jesus Christ out of the school board, which is a very dangerous thing. I believe that he gives power to every leader and if they deny him they'll become less effective. As far as offending people goes, I feel that if something is true, it doesn't matter how offensive it is and Jesus Christ is the truth."

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