Valedictorian Rips Up Approved Speech on Stage, Recites Lord’s Prayer at Graduation

Valedictorian Rips Up Approved Speech on Stage, Recites Lord’s Prayer at Graduation

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. – A high school valedictorian
from South Carolina ripped up his approved speech on stage this past
weekend, and minutes later, delivered the Lord’s Prayer in defiance of
the school district’s decision to no longer include prayer at graduation
ceremonies.

Roy Costner IV drew loud applause and cheers when he surprised
attendees of the Liberty High School graduation at Clemson’s Littlejohn
Colliseum on Saturday.

“From the ACLU sending FOIA requests to every district in the state
this year after the Chesterfield County case, then the Freedom From
Religion Foundation sent us a complaint about religion at board meetings
and some other issues as well,” Pickens County School District
spokesman John Eby said, the district has been under fire.

Therefore, officials decided to end invocations at all school
functions and replace prayer at high school graduations with a moment of
silence.


However, Costner wasn’t going to let activist groups kick God out of
his graduation. After taking the podium, Costner took his approved
speech and ripped it in half for all to see.

“They write their speeches,” Eby told local television station WYFF. “They send them to someone on staff to have them approved.”

After speaking from a separate script for a few minutes, Costner then began to thank his parents for his Christian upbringing.
“Those that we look up to, they have helped carve and mold us into
the young adults that we are today,” he said. “I’m so glad that both of
my parents led me to the Lord at a young age.”

“And I think most of you will understand when I say…” he continued, surprising the crowd with what came next.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name,” Costner declared. “Thy Kingdom come…”

As attendees realized that Costner was reciting the Lord’s Prayer,
applause began to break out in the colliseum. Within seconds, the
applause was accompanied by loud cheers.

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” he
continued. “For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.”

The crowd again broke into cheers and applause as Costner concluded, and one faculty member sat smiling behind him.

“I think it took a lot of courage to do that,” attendee Logan Gibson
told reporters. “People were [supportive] that he stood up for what he
believed in.”





Eby said that the district will not be taking any action against Costner.

“The bottom line is, we’re not going to punish students for
expressing their religious faiths,” he stated. “He’s a graduate now.
There’s nothing we can do about it, even if we wanted to.”

An online video of Costner’s prayer has received over 13,000 hits and more than 300 likes since yesterday.