Illinois's Moment of Silence Law was struck down last week. The law mandated Illinois public schools to require a moment of silence from their students.If you've ever actually taken a moment of silence with other people, you know how creepy one can be. Naturally no one wants a moment of silence -- and certainly not on a daily basis. Not the students. Not the teachers. Not the administrators. The only people who want a moment of silence seem to be our grandstanding Springfield legislators -- perhaps to score some easy points with their religious-values constituents.
So it should be little surprise that when professional athiest and perennial Green Party candidate Rob Sherman complained that the law is unconstitutional, a federal judge agreed.But the judge ruled on a technicality, suggesting the law can be rewritten. Now the LakeCountyEye has nothing but admiration for its grandstanding Springfield legislators -- and knows, given the opportunity, they will always jump at a chance to rewrite a bill, no matter how poorly conceived it may be.
So some free advice: when you resubmit your Moment of Silence Bill, why not make it a Moment of Noise Law instead? Instead of requiring our kids endure a minute of awkward silence, why not require them to whoop it up and holler for that minute instead? This will surely release a lot of pent-up energy that would otherwise have been directed toward some illicit pursuit or other. And Rob Sherman will never be able to argue with a straight face that a Moment of Noise Law is a thinly disguised trojan horse to get prayer back in the public schools.At least give it a moment of thought, grandstanding Springfield legislators. It's a win-win for everyone.
