This Is Not A Church/State Separation Issue

There's a little controversy going on in Cherokee County, Georgia.   It seems there are some who believe the school board is violating the Constitution by holding public high school graduation ceremonies in a local church.   For several years now the county high schools have been holding the ceremonies at First Baptist Woodstock.

The group Citizens United for Separation of Church and State believes this constitutes a violation of the Constitution which mandates that church and state be kept separate.   The Cherokee County School Board disagrees and last Thursday night they voted unanimously to continue holding the graduations in that church.   They say they are doing it so more people can attend, since that building will hold 7,500 people.

I may surprise some of my readers, but even though I am an atheist, I agree with the school board this time.   The simple fact that the graduation ceremony is held in a church building does not make it a religious ceremony.   As long as prayers are not offered and religious songs are not sung at the graduation ceremony, and that does seem to be the case according to students, then there is no constitutional violation.  

The building is just that -- a building.   It is what is happening inside it that determines whether it is a church or just a building holding a secular ceremony.   When religious services are being held there it is a church, but at other times it is just a building and any kind of meeting that the owners allow can be held -- even secular events.

Let me make an analogy.   A new football stadium was just built in Arlington for the Cowboys, and while football is being played there is no doubt it is a football stadium.   But that is not all that happens in that building.   There are concerts and other events, and while they are going on it is no longer a football stadium.   I expect there will even be religious revivals held there, and at that time it will actually be a church.   A building is just a building until a function gives it a certain definition.

I like the group Citizens United, and I usually agree with them.   But I cannot in this one instance.   Cherokee County is perfectly within their rights to hold the graduation in a church building (as long as they don't try to turn the ceremony into a religious event -- and that would be wrong no matter where it was being held).   Holding the graduation in the church building allows more people to attend, and that is a good thing.