BY KRISTEN M. CLARK

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE

Students and teachers in Florida’s public schools would more explicitly have the right to say the Lord’s Prayer, pray to Allah or worship Satan under a highly polarizing measure that’s being fast-tracked through the Florida Senate as the 2017 session begins this week.

Called a “religious liberties” bill, SB 436 is intended to “clarify First Amendment rights of free speech, specifically as they apply to religious expression,” said Sen. Dennis Baxley, a conservative Republican from Ocala who’s driving the measure in the Senate.

“I grew up in an America where you were free to express your faith, and there was no intimidation of whether you could say ‘Jesus’ out loud or not,” Baxley said. “This is where we’ve come: The pendulum has swung so far that there’s been a chilling effect on people of faith of just expressing and being who they are.”

While comments before the Senate Education Committee on Monday heavily emphasized a need to protect Christians, Baxley’s bill would shield students, teachers and school staff of all faiths from religious discrimination — protections already guaranteed through the Florida and U.S. Constitutions, as well as U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

WITHOUT THIS FREE RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION, WE ARE IN FACT ESTABLISHING A STATE-SPONSORED RELIGION: IT’S CALLED SECULAR HUMANISM — AND IF YOU BELIEVE ANYTHING ELSE, THEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE QUIET.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article136810518.html?