Shannon Spaulding--local Valedictorian--criticized for sharing her faith
Last weekend, Shannon Spaulding, the valedictorian of her class, shared her faith in Christ during her speech at the commencement exercises for Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, Florida.
The valedictorian's speech was about Jesus Christ and suggested those who don't believe would go to hell. "I want to tell you that Jesus Christ can give you eternal life in heaven," Spaulding said before the crowd. "If we die with that sin on our souls, we will immediately be pulled down to hell to pay the eternal price for our sins ourselves."
For 17 minutes, Spaulding's speech went on, making religious references to Bible scriptures that were often followed with applause. "Like the Geico Insurance slogan -- so easy a caveman can do it. Letting Jesus take care of our sin problem is so easy a child can do it," said Spaulding.
She is receiving both praise and criticism for her bold statement of faith.
"It was not the right forum. We were all sent there to have a joyous occasion and not a religious revival," said Samantha, who was at the event to see her sister graduate. School superintendent Joseph Wise issued a statement after the graduation ceremony, stating he deeply regretted that "the student exercised her time in her valedictorian speech in a manner that was offensive and insensitive to some." Spaulding told local Channel 4 she was not aware of the controversy and stands behind everything she said.
"I was not trying to force anything on anybody. I just wanted to tell them something I knew was important to me and wanted to have them a chance to hear," Spaulding said.
While some were uncomfortable about her message, there were others who felt she had earned the right to say what she said. "I think that was the most important thing to her, and I think she had the right to say it. She succeeded in becoming valedictorian, and that was her right," said attendee Carileen Bollinger.
Here's a link to Shannon's entire speech: Valedictorian's Speech About Christ Prompts Controversy - Print This Story News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
Labels: Shannon Spaulding
posted by Arron Chambers @ 8:08 AM
13 comments
13 Comments:
God inspired Paul to testify to Timothy "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity" ...God gave this girl an opportunity to stand firm in her faith and what a testimony...the time is essentially here where God’s children are going to be persecuted for what they believe…and that’s okay. If Jesus is your Lord...is this world seeing you or are they seeing Jesus...take time to take your inventory because it will save your soul.
Seems like with every passing year and every new graduating class we are hearing about more and more cases like this. Frankly it makes me a little irritated.
Irritated that it is still rare enough to make the news.
Hopefully one day it's common place and more and more of our graduating youth are sharing their statements of faith and giving glory to God for helping them along the way.
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I think the controversy with this is ridiculous. Kudos to her for using her right to say what needs to be said so more often!
Hmmm....not sure I agree. I suppose one can make the argument that she earned the right to express her views since she earned her top spot in the class and the speech opportunity that went with it. But you can only hold that position with integrity if you also strongly defend the right of next year's atheist, Buddhist, secular humanist, Wiccan, or Mormon valedictorian to just as forcefully articulate a belief system.
Interesting point Jen.
When it comes to the issue of Judeo-Christian beliefs in public school, I've always just wanted equal access for Christianity.
I'm frustrated that Christianity-- which is a religious belief system--is being banned from public schools, while humanism--which is also a belief system--is given an unlimited hall pass, a special job in the Principal's office, and a seat at the best table in the cafeteria.
It's not fair.
It's not fair for Christianity to be banned, while all other religions are not.
Realizing we're talking about Public Government Run Schools . . . I just want Christianity to have a place at the table, classroom, hall, and Principal's office.
Regarding public schools, I think it is reasonable to want the theory of Creation to be presented alongside--not instead of--the theory of evolution in science classrooms. I think it is reasonable to want the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to have the same access to a classroom afterschool that every other club gets.
But--as you point out--equal access in the public school means that--next year at Wolfson's graduation--a Wiccan, Atheist, Humanist, or even . . . a Democrat :) has the right to say what he/she wants to say when given the same opportunity and--even though I won't like it--with integrity I'll have to acknowledge his/her right to do so.
"Christianity-- which is a religious belief system--"
Putting aside that whole "Christian vs. Christ-Follower" ordeal...Do you really believe that statement? By saying that aren't you putting it in the same category as "atheist, Buddhist, secular humanist, Wiccan, or Mormon" which are false beliefs. Don't you think it is time for God's children to make a stand, not just a statement, but a stand for what truth is and what isn’t? I know it needs to be done in love but done nonetheless. The time to play "church" is dead...it's time to be the church and do what the origin of the church did...evangelize.
When I said "Christianity is a belief system" I was just--for the sake of argument--comparing it to other belief systems that seem to be embraced in the public school, while Christianity is banned.
Of course I believe that Christianity is SO much more than a belief system, but I thought that went without saying.
Thanks for your comment. It gave me a chance to clarify further.
I figured YOU believed that...I have read your book and have been reading your blogs...and I am glad you clarified it because unfortunatly, not all of God's children get "it" and I think He's getting our attention because He wants us to be that impact that He believes we can be...thanks for being real
Quick question in response . . . Why should we, as Christ-followers, expect/demand/require the Christian faith to have a "seat at the table" or that things be "fair"?
I have no problem with and completely agree that we are to take a stand for our faith and that we are to pray for and live a life of boldness -- but I don't know that I'm completely onboard with the thinking that says the Christian faith deserves an equal footing in the culture.
It just seems as if we've been spoiled over the years since the Christian faith held a dominant position but now it's been pushed to the margins the only thing we, as Christ-followers, seem to do is whine and complain about it.
Sorry if I sound negative or critical -- I don't pretend to have all the answers, just wrestling with things like everyone else. And I recently read Greg Boyd's book The Myth of a Christian Nation and that has got me thinking a little bit!!
Curt G.
Curt--I agree . . .if you're talking about this world.
I don't expect this world to ever be "fair" to Christians.
This world is not our home.
And maybe this is wrong-thinking on my part . . . but the issue of "fairness" I am addressing is in the public school system.
I believe that it is unfair (and I'm using "unfair" in the strictest sense--lit. "not equitable") for Christians--and Christianity--to not have the same rights, access, and support (in a public school system) that other social and religious groups are afforded, when that school is funded by public money.
The days when Christianity had prominence in public schools are long gone. I'm not arguing for prominence; I'm just looking for equitable treatment for Christianity, not in this world, but in a publicly supported educational system, and anything less than that is--in my opinion--technically unfair.
In "fairness", as the world defines it, disciples of Jesus deserve a place at the table in public discourse, of course. However, I fear those disciples mostly fail to discern the difference between His Kingdom and the kingdom of the ruler of this world. That which clouds the disciple's view on this issue is the false notion that there is a "culture war". The disciple is not charged with winning the "culture" to His Kingdom, but making more disciples.
History shows the reason some today believe in this "culture war" is because the Kingdom gave away so much to "culture" when the kingdom was somewhat morally beneficial to all. The Kingdom was supposed to be so much and, over the centuries, gave away so much to government/politics. And now it is hard to retrieve it, hence the invention of the "culture war".
(This is the 1st blog I have ever read. I'll be back. It's an interesting form of community and communication. I was in school 1 year with your father at CBS.So pleased to see you describe yourself in the bio with this term))
- An elder-in-hiding
I think I actually agree with the criticism of the girl. The question is, is it really appropriate to turn a secular event into a church service? There is obviously nothing wrong with letting people see that you have faith and are not afraid to share it. But many of the people coming to this graduation were expecting the event to be about graduation. I think a more subtle approach was called for.
My thinking about Christianity and politics in the public forum has changed drastically. It seems to me that Christians are barking up the wrong tree by working in the legal system to fight for our right to voice our opinions from the public venues--like schools, etc. I don't think Jesus approached things that way. He didn't approach the Roman government and lobby for the right for people to follow him--he just told people to follow him and accept the consequences. He didn't take over secular venues, he went to the temple and the synagogues to preach. He didn't try to illegalize sin and immorality, he just preached that people should turn to him and repent.
I have a blog of my own on which I've written an article about this very subject. I don't know if you'll want to post it here, but I'll include a link to the article. You can decide whether you'll include it in the comment or not.
http://approachingtheabyss.blogspot.com/2007/05/counter-culturalism-and-politics.html
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