Liberty Minute June 20 2014

As salutatorian of his class at California?s Brawley Union High School, Brooks Hamby was invited to address the audience at the graduation ceremony. He was required to submit a draft of his speech prior to the event ? and he went through three rejections before school district officials settled on a version they considered acceptable.

Hamby?s speech was regarded as controversial because of his insistence on crediting God for his success as a student. After two versions of his speech were turned down, Hamby and his parents received a notice that if he ?interjects religious content, the sound will be cut off, and a disclaimer to the entire audience must be made explaining the district?s position.?

Hamby eventually delivered a speech in which he described how three drafts had been ruled out because of his determination to share his experience as a Christian believer. He also invoked God?s blessings on the audience, and shared a brief excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount ? which was described as a passage from ?the biggest-selling book of all time.?

Their bluff called, officials did not cut off his microphone.  The fact that they were prepared to so illustrates the extent to which the US education system has come to resemble that of the former Soviet Union.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.