Liberty's Valedictorian's Prayer Receiving National Attention

Liberty High School’s valedictorian Roy Costner IV is receiving national attention for standing up for his religious beliefs.

As Patch previously reported, during Liberty High School’s commencement ceremonies on June 1, Costner tore up his approved speech.

After thanking his parents, Costner recited the Lord’s Prayer.

Prayer has been a topic in the School District of Pickens County lately, after the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened legal action against the district and board members if the board continued opening board meetings with a student-led prayer.

That led to the board adopting a new policy regarding prayer at board meetings. Board members will now open meetings with a non-sectarian invocation. That decision was reached after consulting with legal counsel, but the policy change has angered many residents in the county.

Costner finished reciting The Lord’s Prayer to tremendous cheers and applause from the audience at Littlejohn Coliseum.

In a recent interview with the Christian Post, Costner said he objected to changes board members instituted following the threat from the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

"The school district got so scared and blew things out of proportion that they took prayer out of everything," he said.  "They did not allow teachers or faculty or staff to participate in the annual 'See You At The Pole' initiative, and they banned prayer and all religious references from athletic events and anything school-related. They took away a lot of rights relating to prayer and free speech."

He also lamented a decision to replace prayer at high school graduation ceremonies with a moment of silence.

He said he was standing up for freedom of speech.

"Let me first say that every person, regardless of their religious affiliation – whether they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, or any other belief – should be allowed to say what they want because of the First Amendment,” Costner told the Christian Post. “I felt that my free speech was being encroached upon, because I wasn't allowed to say what I wanted to say or acknowledge who I wanted to acknowledge.

"I want to emphasize that everyone should be free to say what they want," Costner said. "Just because I prayed to my God doesn't mean that someone else isn't allowed to pray to who they want or say what they believe. We should all have free speech."

Costner was also interviewed on CNN about his stand.

He said he hoped the community would support others standing up for their religious beliefs, as they had supported him standing up for his.

“I spoke with my dad after I created this speech and I decided to do the prayer,” he told CNN. “And he came to me and he said, I want you to make sure this is not for you and that this is for God. And a bunch of other pastors said the same thing. And after about three or four days of devotion and prayer, I decided that this is what I felt God wanted me to do and I'm completely astonished and humbled that he would choose to use someone like me for something this big.”