Build Me a Bridge, Cry Me a River, and Get Over Yourself

I read a story earlier this week about a 16-year-old girl in Rhode Island who had spearheaded a lawsuit designed to remove a prayer posted in her high school's auditorium.  The prayer had been up there nearly 50 years, but now it's been covered by a tarp due to the student having won the lawsuit.  Here's the link to the story if you want the details and background:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46160046/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times/

There's a lot that really angers me about this story.  First of all, I get the girl's point of view.  She's an atheist in a town that is predominantly Catholic, so she's in the minority.  She's public enemy number one now in her town as a result of the decision, pending its appeal in the courts, so she's being ostracized and persecuted even more now.  She's also not the first person I've read about or met who had a crisis of faith in life that shifted her perspective.  The problem is, she's a self-righteous idiot.

First of all, the link I posted above has a picture of the entire prayer that was posted in the auditorium.  Aside from the intro, "Our Heavenly Father," there is not a single religious reference in the entire prayer.  It might as well be a mantra for the students to follow every day.  Being offended by a prayer like that is the opposite end of the spectrum from people who are offended by pornography.  She has a right to feel the way she feels, but she also has the same option that people have who are offended by porn: she can simply avoid being around the prayer.  She doesn't have to stare at it every day, and she didn't even know about the prayer until someone else pointed it out to her when she was a freshman (which also implies that it isn't recited in school every day, either).  One has to wonder if anything would have been done had she never known it was there in the first place.

Now it's fair to point out there are extremists on the other side of this story.  The article mentioned a State Representative who openly had called the student an “an evil little thing" on a local radio show.  That kind of comment isn't going to win over people who might have been on the fence on the subject.  While I feel she's being pompous and overreacting to a not-so-religious prayer, she's not evil. 

A graduate of the school said it best: If the student is truly offended by any mention of God, then she better not carry any cash on her, since all dollar bills read "In God We Trust."  I'd even carry that idea a step further.  I hope she never attends any baseball games, since it's now customary to hear "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch at many home games.  And - gad zooks! - what if she sneezes and has to hear the words, "God bless you" from someone?  Do you see how idiotic this line of thinking is when carried to its natural conclusion?

I'm not saying she should have kept her mouth shut the entire time, but in the big picture of things, what greater good was really served here?  She obviously doesn't go home and say, "Well thank God that's over!"  (I mean that both literally and sarcastically)  Really though, nobody really won in this case.  The other students and faculty at the school lost since they liked having the prayer up, and the student herself lost since she's now being ostracized for her actions.  So how was any of this worth the time and energy spent?

I went to private school from kindergarten up to 8th grade, and then switched to public school for high school.  I admit, it was a little weird for me at first to not have a time every morning set aside specifically for prayer, but we did have a "moment of silence" so anyone who was religious could pray if he or she wanted to.  I never felt my religious beliefs were impeded at any time, nor was I offended by anyone who didn't share my personal beliefs.  That's the great thing about beliefs and opinions: they are, by definition, personal.  They're integral to who we are as individuals, and the great thing is we don't have to agree on everything.  Like I said before, she's entitled to feel however she wants to feel about God or religion, but the irony to her actions is that she's now imposing her personal beliefs on the other students and faculty at her school.  She didn't like that the school prayer imposed upon her beliefs, so she turned right around and imposed her feelings on everyone else.

If someone can tell me exactly what greater good was served in all this, I'd love to hear it.