January 22, 2012

Got up and checked out the paper: My niece Jessica was on the front page again. But this time, it was different. The paper was running a series of articles, five in all by my count, that were basically in support of Jessica and the ruling in her favor by Judge Lagueux. Check out:

Still a lively experiment

Religion still has a place in schools, says scholar

Mural at Bain removed without fanfare last year

Ex-prayer-mural supporter now advocates removing religious words

Timeline: The school prayer at Cranston West


Judge details how, why he ruled

Also, in a feature called "IN QUOTES THE WEEK THAT WAS" the Providence Journal ran the following:

“Not once in my four years have we been forced to read or say the prayer. Please consider appealing the decision to take down the prayer. … If we’re gonna go down, let’s go down fighting.”

Cranston West Student Council President Patrick McAssey, addressing the School Committee about the controversial prayer banner in his school.

I note this because Patrick McAssey is the student who emailed me and asked me to remove the video of his statement to the Cranston School Committee from last Tuesday night, claiming that his statements were for the School Board only and that as a minor he thought his comments should not be put on YouTube for all to see. I disagreed with his logic, but removed the video because he is a minor and I didn't want to link him forever to words he might regret. But this quote in the newspaper is making me rethink my decision.

Given the potential for a sudden swing in support for Jessica's position, I've organized a Facebook event to get people out to the next School Committee meeting this coming Wednesday. Here's the link:

Support Jessica Ahlquist at the Cranston School Committee Meeting

I'm hoping to get at least a hundred people to attend.

Meanwhile, Jessica was in Florida, giving this excellent talk about her experiences:

The rest of my day was spent grocery shopping and driving my son back to UMass Amherst.

I already miss him.