Margeaux Graham, a high school junior in Florida, was selected to participate in this year’s prestigious 9-day “Girls State” leadership program in Florida.
This program, run by The American Legion Auxiliary (ALA), provides young women who show leadership potential to “learn how to participate in the functioning of their state’s government in preparation for their future roles as responsible adult citizens.”
It is a “nonpartisan program that teaches young women responsible citizenship and love for God and Country.” Participants get to list the event on their college applications, as well as receive 3 college credits for completing the program.
In short, it is a Very Big Deal to be selected.
Margeaux is not just a bright woman of outstanding character. She is a also faithful Catholic who takes her obligation to attend Mass very seriously. But when she inquired about attending Mass during Girls State, she was told participants would only be permitted to participate in the “non-offensive”, non-denominational service offered for all at the conference.”
This year’s Florida Girls State was held at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee. The Catholic cathedral is literally right across the street.
A member of the national American Legion contacted the Florida Auxiliary to arrange for a priest to celebrate Mass on campus. The Auxiliary said no.
So Margeaux wrote to the organizers declining the invitation, with firm resolve, unless she was allowed to attend Mass. This is her letter, reprinted with permission. Mind you, she is a high school junior.
TO: American Legion Auxiliary Unit #21
FROM: Margeaux Graham
RE: Girls State 2012
DATE: May 7, 2012I am regretfully writing this letter to formally inform you that I will be unable to attend Florida Girls State in June. I am extremely honored that you found me worthy to represent American Legion Auxiliary unit #21 and am devastated that I cannot participate. I attended orientation on May 6, 2012 and was informed by [name private] that I would not be allowed to attend Mass on Sunday.
My faith is very important to me, as it has been to countless Americans. This country was founded on the principles of religious and personal freedom, the fundamental rights that either you or your loved ones fought to protect. It is disheartening that the Florida Girls State program is structured in such a way that it prohibits participation of young women who have a strong conviction for their religious practices.
The only opportunity to participate in a Sunday service is presented in a “non-offensive”, non-denominational service. As a Catholic Christian I find it offensive that I am not allowed to attend Mass and am perplexed as to how this service could accommodate the beliefs of other religious groups, such as Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and all Christian religions. I am disappointed to see the lack of respect for religious creed from the Florida Girls State program by limiting participants to only one religious paradigm.
Miss [name private] made it quite clear that I had to choose between my faith and Florida Girls State. I was looking forward to attending with great zeal, the knowledge, experience, and friends gained would have been invaluable. My faith has made me who I am, it has shaped me into the young woman that you chose as your delegate, for me to deny my faith would be hypocritical. Words cannot express my disappointment that the Florida Girls State program is designed to only accommodate delegates who fit into a pre-determined religious belief system or none at all.
Margeaux Graham
This letter was forwarded to the State Director, who forwarded it to a state level officer, who also identifies as Catholic, and thus felt compelled to respond to Margeaux. Here is part of her response:
“Only an elite group of young women are given the privilege of attending each year and it is a once in a life-time opportunity to do so. Along with that privilege comes some sacrifice. They must attend an orientation … and for some that means missing a track meet or dance competition and they must remain with the program from beginning till end and sometimes that means missing other important programs throughout the summer and other camps whose dates over-lap ours. And yes, it means girls are unable to go to the church of their choice on Sunday or what ever their day of worship is.”
A Catholic who puts Mass on the same level as a TRACK MEET?! Call me cynical, but I bet this twit also supports ObamaCare and the HHS mandate.
The writer also accused Margeaux’s mother of creating a “negative impact” on her daughter and said,
“Life is full of choices and she will be faced with many in her lifetime. One of life’s lessons is she can’t go through life blaming others for the decisions she makes.”
The American Legion Auxiliary says it is
“the world’s largest women’s patriotic service organization. Through its nearly 10,500 units located in every state and some foreign countries, the Auxiliary embodies the spirit of America that has prevailed through war and peace. Along with The American Legion, it solidly stands behind America and her ideals.”
The ALA premable says,
“For God and Country, we associate ourselves together for the following purposes: To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of American.[sic]”
Riiiiiiiiiiiight.
SOURCE:
Margeaux Graham declined American Legion honors for the sake of her faith.
http://the-american-catholic.com/2012/05/23/margeauxs-stand-catholic-teen-defends-her-right-to-attend-mass/
If you liked this, you might also enjoy https://polination.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/for-the-first-time-in-my-adult-life/
polination.blog 
Awesome story, Chrissy. My daughter made a similar decision once, when she chose to honor a commitment to a church youth event that conflicted with a HS tennis practice, resulting in her being dismissed from the team just before going to State. Oh well.
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As my mom used to say, “Her reward will be great in Heaven.”
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Absolutely no one would be inconvenienced in any way if this young lady were allowed to take an hour and go across the street to attend mass. The folks responsible for denying her permission to do so are just on a power trip. Good for her for telling them “thanks, but no thanks.” Wish there were more young folks like her.
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Wow…talk about messed up and backwards. It sounds like she took responsiblity for her decision to me and made the choice that she thought was right. That doesn’t exclude her from criticizing the way they chose to run the program, which is completely unaccomodating of religious preference.
So, let’s go! Where do they get their funding and how do we tell them how we feel?
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http://www.boysandgirlsstate.org/girls.html
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Florida Girls State contact: Jackie Ihnenfeld
Website: ALAFL.org
Email: fgsdirector@alafl.org
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Sounds to me like the girl is not standing firm, so much for Mass, but against an operational “state religion”. it is one thing to not allow time or security resources for everyone to leave event to go to respective worships/raises, and an all together thing to state all must attend a non-religious religious ceremony incorporating all religions as one, big, happy generic celebration. That is State Religion and a direct mirror of what has been set up in Communist Blocks. So, the young lady is not just a faithful Catholic but a Patriot, as well.
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I could see the org having insurance issues maybe with an off-campus visit, though honestly, across the street with a chaperone seems an unlikely verboten issue to insurance. But when they also said no to a priest coming to her, they lost me. And when it got to that pseudo-Catholic sending a nasty letter, my hair caught fire.
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Mine too, and I’m not even Catholic.
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