What is with people on this quote? What happened to all the people who get why enforcing a prayer is a BAD thing? People are saying "Why is he making such a big deal out of it?" Obviously it's not the end of the world, but it's a matter of principle prayer does not belong in a public school ceremony. Unless they're going to represent ALL religions in said prayer they should not be doing it. Religion does not belong in this ceremony in the first place.
@towey, It's absolutely nothing like banning Christmas, because banning Christmas would be restricting what people can do on their own time, which is wrong. These people are free to pray all they want ON THEIR OWN TIME. A public, SECULAR ceremony where a great diversity of students are being represented, is squarely outside of that category. Having prayer be part of a public school ceremony is not a right. Not having others' religion imposed on you IS.
Ditto to everything Deep Search said.
@Drax, Just because it doesn't bother YOU, doesn't mean it's an okay thing to do. Just how egocentric are you?
"He's still singled himself out anyway, hasn't he, by making a big issue out of it?"
So you're saying that by being an atheist he brought it on himself to have others' religion imposed on him?
"If the religious lot want to mumble a prayer among themselves, why is that so offensive to a nonbeliever?"
Because the religious lot don't have a right to do that. It's a school, not a church. Just because most of them are religious doesn't mean that a public school is magically transformed into a place where people's retarded beliefs should be allowed to permeate everything.
A lot of you are assuming that religion commands some kind of respect. It does not. This atheist doesn't owe his religious peers anything. If they wanted to make it part of the ceremony give offerings to the Invisible Pink Unicorn, would you think it was wrong of him to protest that? If so, then you have a really messed up way of thinking, and if not, then you're a hypocrite.