School Tells 6-Year-Old to Remove God from Poem Honoring Her Two Veteran Grandfathers

A North Carolina community is community is embroiled in controversy after a school ordered a 6-year-old girl to remove the word "God" from a poem she was supposed to read during a school assembly marking Veterans Day at West Marion Elementary School, Fox News reports. The poem, which honored the girl's two grandfathers who had served during the Vietnam War, read: "He prayed to God for peace, he prayed to God for strength." A parent reportedly found out about the poem and expressed concern about mentioning God during a school event. According to one account, the parent did not want God's name mentioned anywhere in the program. "We wanted to make sure we were upholding the school district's responsibility of separation of church and state from the Establishment Clause," said superintendent Gerri Martin, who made the decision in consultation with the school's principal and vice principal. "We jointly decided that we must err on the side of caution to prevent crossing the line on the Establishment Clause of the Constitution," principal Desarae Kirkpatrick said.