A Kentucky student had his diploma temporarily withheld by district officials for going “off script” and celebrating his “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” as “the light, the way, the truth, and the life” in his graduation speech. Clearly, Jesus Christ is becoming more and more unwelcome in public education.
The government school’s controversial response, which drew national attention to the escalating anti-Christ bigotry that reigns in government schools, was strongly condemned by Christian leaders and free-speech advocates. By contrast, it drew cheers from anti-Christian forces.
Despite eventually relenting and giving Campbell County High School graduate Micah Price his diploma five days later, school officials refused to apologize. Instead, the superintendent defended the ban on free speech and biblical truth spoken freely by students of tax-funded schools in the supposed land of the free.
“Class, before another word is to leave my mouth I must give the honor, the praise, and the glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who in His very words tells us He is the Light, He’s the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” Price declared in his speech in front of his classmates and their families just south of Cincinnati.
The graduate, who reportedly became a Baptist in 8th grade, urged listeners to consider inviting Christ into their own lives. “Class, everyone in the audience today, I’m here to tell you that if you don’t have any of those things in your life, you can’t seem to find the answer, my Lord and Savior is your answer,” he said. “He will give you the truth, the way, and the life.”
Price had already been ordered by school officials not to speak about Jesus beyond a quick thank you, and officials had told him to remove all of the offending Christian remarks before delivering his speech. When he went to get his diploma after defying those orders, the graduate was told by the principal that he would have to “talk to the board” first.
In comments to local media outlets, Superintendent Shelli Wilson defended the controversial response. “All speakers were told that going off their submitted speech, or any unplanned choices at graduation, may have repercussions as they would at any school function,” Wilson was quoted as saying by WKRC.
The superintendent also tried to paint the anti-Christian response as a generic polity. “Off-program choices such as speech, signs, and caps in support of any cause or religion, injecting inappropriate language, or political election statements could lead to something other than this outpouring of Christian faith,” Wilson added.
Despite the claim that the policy would apply to any religious or political comments, similar policies across the country appear to be aimed solely at Christianity. In fact, as The Newman Report has documented for years, attacks on Christian students by government school educators and officials have become routine, even as blatant paganism rushes in.
Two years ago, a government school in Washington was caught terrorizing and humiliating a little girl in 2nd grade for sharing her faith in Jesus Christ with her classmates and handing out crosses. “Christian tracts were being treated as contraband, as if speaking about Jesus were an illicit drug,” noted a legal group that took on the bigotry.
In North Carolina, a government school was caught forcing Christian students to stand in front of their classmates to repent of their alleged “Christian privilege.” In Tennessee, meanwhile, a school district was caught subjecting teachers to an indoctrination program teaching them that Christians had “privilege” while pagans were “oppressed.”
There have been no known incidents of government schools withholding diplomas or offering similar consequences to Muslims for professing their faith in their deity. Neither have LGBTQ+ students or teachers been disciplined for promoting their deviant sexual proclivities, gender confusion, or even handing out pornographic material.
In true Christian fashion, Price, the Kentucky student who defied the order not to share Christ, took responsibility and acknowledged violating government “policy.” As he put it in a public statement, he “serves a Higher Power.” “I do no one’s bidding but God,” Price declared. “So, if anyone’s in the wrong, I am. I deserve to get punished.”
Reactions flew online, with anti-Christian zealots condemning Price while Christians and even tolerant unbelievers praised him for standing up for his beliefs. Price said he agreed with both positions. But at the end of the day, he said, “I simply cannot enter a place or a building and not talk about my Savior and urge people to give their lives to Him.”
In Acts 5, Jesus’ apostles, having “filled Jerusalem” with Christian doctrine, were arrested by authorities for having defied an order to stop preaching in the name of Christ. They again refused to comply. “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men,’” reads Acts 5:29.
Government schools are becoming increasingly pagan and hostile to the Bible and Christians. However, as has been the case throughout history, the more authorities try to stop the Gospel, the faster it will spread, and the more Jesus’ followers will be emboldened to share it. If Acts 5:29 is a guide to go by, God certainly smiled on Price’s actions.