Mississippi State University Violates Church-State Separation

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Mississippi State University is having the investiture of their new president, Mark E. Keenum, today. According to the schedule of events posted on their web site, the ceremony started this morning with a "prayer service." I mention this because Mississippi State University is in fact a state university, meaning that they receive funds from the legislature of our state.

It is not my intention to single MSU out for their church-state violation. I suspect that all state universities in Mississippi engage in similar practices. For example, I know they include sectarian prayers as part of the official commencement ceremonies at the University of Southern Mississippi because I have attended several of them.

To be clear, Mississippi State University is violating the separation of church and state by making prayer services an official part of their events. They are a state-sponsored institution and have no business promoting religion.

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Tags: Mississippi State University, church and state, Mississippi