Principal apologizes for prayer

The principal of a Georgia high school apologized to parents and students yesterday for reading "The New School Prayer" over the intercom.

Tommy Craft, principal of Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Ga., was forced to apologize after fielding complaints about the prayer, which he read last Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, the Associated Press reported.

The prayer, which is in the form of a poem, ridicules political correctness and the banishing of religion from public schools. Craft said he simply wanted to provoke thought and discussion among students about the changing political climate in public schools.

"I apologized to them today in another statement,'' Craft said, according to the news service. "I said that there was no attempt to individualize or to bring ridicule on any particular person with the poem.''

The prayer, which uses a rhyming format, has been circulating on the Internet for years. It laments that organized prayer is not allowed in public schools, but says students can "dress like freaks, and pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks'' or "elect a pregnant Senior Queen.''

Says the poem: "They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible. To quote the Good Book makes me liable."

According to AP, some parents complained to both Craft and Clarke County School Superintendent Lewis Holloway.

"Basically, I found the poem offensive, but even if I didn't, I still would believe it crossed the line between church and state,'' Ginger Smith, whose daughter is a junior at Cedar Shoals, told the news service.

Holloway told AP the district had received "several calls'' from people who were upset about the poem. He would not say what, if any, disciplinary action will be taken against Craft.

It is not known who wrote "The New School Prayer." Here is the poem Craft read:

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule.

For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.

And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.

The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.

In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.

They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the "unwed daddy,'' our Senior King.

It's "inappropriate'' to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments'' do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot, my soul please take!

Amen.