Republished by Lewis Loflin
Looking back on the Gate City, Virginia, moment of silence controversy in 2000, I must admit I was in an anti-Christian phase that I now regret. At the time, I might have sided with the ACLU’s lawsuit, seeing it as a necessary check on religious influence in schools. But I knew the people involved—students, parents, and community members in Scott County—and there was no evidence of coercion, threats, or any harmful behavior by the Christian crowd. Their desire for a moment of silence was about personal piety, not control, a distinction I’ve come to appreciate, as I’ve written in A Deist Critique of Anti-Christian Zealotry. The ACLU’s overreach here mirrors the control-seeking behavior I critique in both secular and religious contexts, like the fear-driven end-times predictions in my Library of Date Setters. This article shows a community standing up for their right to quiet reflection, a right I now believe should be respected.
Gate City: As schools in Southwest Virginia prepared to start the 2000–2001 school year, a new state law requiring a daily minute of silence before classes sparked controversy. The Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a federal lawsuit against the state over the law, passed in the 2000 Virginia General Assembly session as Senate Bill 209.
The ACLU, representing seven Northern Virginia students, argued that the "moment of silence" violated the separation of church and state. They claimed it was a thinly veiled attempt to reintroduce prayer into public schools, a practice restricted by prior Supreme Court rulings.
Mike Jenkins, a Gate City resident who operates a nationwide youth ministry and organizes Scott County’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), called the ACLU’s lawsuit an attempt to impose its views over personal choice. "During that minute of silence at the beginning of the school day, a student can pray to whomever they want, or they can use that time to reflect," Jenkins said. "That shouldn’t deny those students who are Christians the right to pray. I am totally for the law 100 percent, and it’s not just adults who are in favor of this. Young adults want this right."
Jenkins emphasized the need for prayer in schools, especially given recent school violence. "Anything we can do to get prayer back in school we should encourage, with all of the shootings and other disruptions our young people are having to deal with these days. Jesus Christ is the answer, and taking that away would discriminate against Christians."
The community rallied behind the law, with 300 students and residents attending a "We Will Pray" rally at Gate City High School. A petition supporting the moment of silence garnered 1,500 signatures, showing widespread local support for the students’ right to reflect or pray.
Delegate Clarence E. "Bud" Phillips (D-Sandy Ridge), who supported Senate Bill 209, described the minute of silence law as a "common ground" centerpiece in Virginia’s diverse religious landscape during the General Assembly session. The law, passed in March 2000, aimed to provide a neutral moment for reflection, not to mandate prayer.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley also backed the law, asking the federal court to dismiss the ACLU’s case. "In an era which has seen an increase in school violence, it’s unfortunate the ACLU is discouraging students from exercising a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day," Earley stated on June 22, 2000.
The ACLU’s challenge ultimately faltered. In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal, effectively upholding the Virginia law. The law was clarified to ensure the moment of silence was for reflection, not explicitly for prayer, addressing some legal concerns while still allowing students to pray silently. Jenkins and the FCA celebrated this as a victory for student rights, though broader questions about public prayer remained unresolved.
The Gate City High FCA already had a voluntary prayer service in the school’s gym before the school day, a practice Jenkins said would continue in the 2000–2001 school year. The other two high schools in Scott County, Rye Cove and Twin Springs, planned to follow suit with similar services.
However, Jenkins was uncertain about how a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision would affect student-led prayers at Gate City High football games, where an FCA member had traditionally led a prayer for several years. In *Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe* (2000), the Supreme Court ruled that student-led prayers at public school sporting events violated the Establishment Clause, prompting concerns about public prayer at school events.
"I’m really not sure how that will pan out," Jenkins said. "Mr. Mike Brickey, the school’s principal, will have to make the final decision on that because he has made decisions on such matters in the past. There will be prayer in the locker room before the game and on the field after the game, but I am hopeful that we can have prayer with the crowd in some form this year."
Published by Times-News, July 29, 2000.
Acknowledgment: I’d like to thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for helping me draft and refine this article. The final edits and perspective are my own.
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