-> SNETNEWS Mailing List
...GOVERNMENT THAT YOUR CHURCH SUCKS UP TO WITH
IT'S 501-(c)-3 STATUS AS A CORPORATION TO THE DEVIL??
I AM ONLY A MORTAL MAN - PERHAPS OUR GOD WILL ASK
YOU ONE DAY - PRAY TELL, WHAT BE YOUR ANSWER??
Respectfully and Prayerfully Submitted,
Bob Worn, Major-USAF (Retired)
Route 8 - Box 422
Pritchett, Texas 75644-8825
903-734-6970
White House: No-pray zone
Secret Service boots out students who asked God to bless president
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22855
By Matthew Mittan of The Asheville Tribune
© 2001 TRIBUNE PAPERS, INC.
Eleven high-school students, two parent escorts and a teacher were
abruptly escorted out of the White House this week after daring to stop
during a tour of "the people's house" to pray for its chief resident,
President George W. Bush.
When students from Merrimon Christian School in Asheville, N.C., left
for the nation's capital Monday, little could they foresee the
controversy they would find themselves in. Being booted from the White
House and having one of their chaperons "pounded" and yelled at by
security agents was the furthest thing from their minds.
Their tour of the White House State Floor, where major political
receptions take place, was nearly completed, and they were waiting to go
on to the next part before exiting the White House. Ahead of the MCS
students was another group. According to Ms. Pat Aldrich, a high school
teacher at MCS, the group ahead of them had loitered around for about 10
minutes before moving on with the tour. Once that group left, MCS
students decided to join hands in a circle -- off to the side of the big
room but not beyond the public area -- and pray. Aldrich told the
Asheville Tribune by cell phone yesterday, "We [had] decided we were
going to pray for the president [while in the White House]." She also
said that they wanted to thank God for giving them safe travel to
Washington, D.C.
That's when things took a sudden turn.
"Larry, the group leader, started with his prayer first and each person
was going to say a brief prayer," Aldrich, whose prayer was second,
continued. "We had been there less than a minute (praying quietly)" when
a Secret Service agent came over and, according to the teacher, started
physically intervening in the prayer.
"He was pounding on her (Mrs. Renee Gordy, a parent) shoulder while I
was praying, yelling 'MA'AM! MA'AM! MA'AM!'" she said. Aldrich completed
her brief prayer before the group let go of each others' hands.
Aldrich says that the official then "rudely" began ordering the group to
"take it outside" and that they couldn't stay in the room. When it was
mentioned that the group before them had lingered in the room a full 10
minutes, the security officer is said to have yelled at the group,
saying, "I make the rules here, and you obey them!"
"We feel like we were told to leave because we were praying," Aldrich
said. "He was rude beyond all belief."
She said of the students, "The kids were angry that this is supposed to
be 'the people's house' and they treated us this way." Aldrich said that
the agent was particularly rude toward one female student, Jessica
Banks.
Scott Thompson, Headmaster of MCS, was fully supportive of the group's
prayer and the response of his students and adult chaperons to the
incident.
Asked if Aldrich might face any consequences with the school upon her
return, Thompson said, "None whatsoever!" In fact, when Aldrich asked
Thompson if she could draft a letter of complaint against the White
House, he gave her immediate approval to do so. He also said that if the
kids were feeling any anger, fear or curiosities about the confrontation
that they should also be encouraged to write to government officials.
Thompson continued, "John Locke wrote about toleration. Toleration is
the ability to discuss our differences and tell someone why you believe
the way you do. I think we've redefined toleration in America today.
Tolerance now means not talking about things you believe in." He
believes that is what happened Tuesday at the White House, that there
was a lack of tolerance of public prayer.
Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., has his office "aggressively pursuing
answers" as to what, exactly, led to this confrontation between White
House security and the student group from Asheville.
Michael Briggs, a spokesman from Edwards' Washington, D.C., office told
the Tribune that Edwards is co-chair of the Senate Prayer Breakfast and
that he very much wants to "find out what happened." Briggs said that
their office had contacted the Secret Service and was waiting for a call
back from them.
Edwards later called the Tribune to add, "I can't imagine what the
objection would be to students praying on government property. I pray
regularly on government property. I want to make sure this doesn't
happen again."
The office of Rep. Charles Taylor, R-N.C., has told MCS that this is an
executive branch issue and they are from the legislative branch.
Taylor's Asheville office had little to no comment on the situation and
offered no referrals to the Tribune for official comment. Rep. Taylor
declined an opportunity to discuss the issue with the Tribune early
yesterday morning.
North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, a Republican, is also pursuing an
explanation from the White House. A spokesman from Helms' Washington
office said, "The process is underway; we're looking into it." The
official said that the senator "will not drop this until he gets an
answer."
The White House Visitor Center referred calls to the White House Press
office. Jeanie Mamo of the White House Press Office had "no comment" and
referred the Tribune to the Secret Service. Jeff Banocy, White House
Watch Commander, had "no comment" and referred this reporter to the
Secret Service Press Office.
There, Mark Connolly, spokesman for the Secret Service, told the
Tribune, "We're not aware of any specific incident." He continued by
saying that it is very routine for Secret Service officers to keep
people moving and to keep them out of restricted areas.
In response to the groups' claim that they weren't in a restricted area,
Connolly said, "If a group was asked to keep moving, the officer is
focusing on keeping the tour moving." In regards to the claim that the
group in front of MCS had loitered about for 10 minutes and was never
asked to move on, yet they were told to leave in less than a minute,
Connolly stated, "I can't comment on any specifics because I can't
confirm whether it happened or didn't happen."
Connolly concluded by reiterating that the focus is on keeping the tour
line moving: "We get over 1 million visitors annually."
He said they just want to make sure that everyone gets to see the whole
tour. He also said that he was not aware of any contact to his office by
Helms or Edwards.
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