FROM: Terry Lynch@aol.com; POB 241035; Montgomery, AL 36124-1035 
Phone: (334) 272-4217 voice  (334) 277-3582 fax via arrangement

DATE:  June 23, 1998 

TO:  Letter to the Editor      


REF:  Recite poetry, not prayer in public schools!

In regards to the issue of prayer in public schools, I invite all 
students to read this poem I wrote, or any other poem of their 
choice, aloud on the PA system, at public assemblies and school 
sponsored events:

Whether there is a Heaven or a Hell/ Whether there is a God or a 
devil/ Church and state should remain separate/ And Gideon 
peddlers, the courts decree/ Stay out of the classroom.

Whether you are Moslem or Jew/ Whether you are Protestant or 
Catholic/ No one needs principle John or Paul/ Preaching on the 
PA system/ Armageddon, salvation, hallelujah, Hari-Hari Krishna/ 
Or what cross to bare.

Whether you worship God or the Devil/ Whether you wear a crucifix 
or David's star/ It's not right to force your idea/ Of God down a 
classmate's throat/ The judge did decree.

Whether I am right or wrong/ Whether God is alive or dead/ No one 
has a right to pistol whip my kids/ On their idea of prayer or 
religion/ No matter how many guns/ Johnny may bring to Show and 
Tell.

Whether you agree or disagree/ Whether you speak in parables or 
tongues/ Public schools are for scholarly learning/ Not religious 
indoctrination, not school-sponsored prayer/ The high court 
rules, regardless of what God or the Bible says!

Besides, who need prayer in public schools/ When there is no law 
against poetry/ There is enough inspiration for everyone/ In the 
Bard of Avon, Dylan and Dickinson/ And evolution is "evilution," 
we all know that.

So pray a poem loud and free/ No one can stop you from doing 
that/ Not God, the devil or even the Supreme Court/ Can stop a 
love poem.

This poem is offered as a solution to the public school prayer 
issue.  It is both a protest and a contest of court rulings. Any 
student who reads this poem or other inspirational poetry in 
their public schools can not be stopped by any court, for 
althought prayer may be made illegal, poetry can never be 
stopped!


Sincerely,
Terry Lynch 
Montgomery, AL