By Scott Buttram
Publisher
TRUSSVILLE –A week ago, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to Trussville City Schools demanding that the school system cease prayer over the public address system prior to football games.
On Friday, just before kickoff between the Huskies and Florence High School, school leaders and students responded. The answer was no.
The letter from FFRF followed a complaint from a parent and cited previous court rulings selected to bolster their opinion.
Following reports of the FFRF letter, Trussville school officials chose not to comment on the demands and remained silent.
But the response on Friday spoke volumes as nothing in the pregame format changed from the previous home football games at HTHS. In fact, the only variation was a louder prayer when a large number of students joined in.
As had been the case in previous home football games, a volunteer student led prayer began over the stadium loud speaker. When the student said, “I pray that as we stand here as one group we would proclaim…,” Hewitt-Trussville students wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the words “Stand up for prayer” joined in and recited the Lord’s Prayer in unison.
Several HTHS students said the plan was organized and executed by students with no input from school leaders.