Here are two other newsworthy stories along the same lines as what we are discussing:
National Alliance writes:
No Religious Book Reports
"Pen and paper weren't enough for 11-year-old Elizabeth Johnson to do her book report. She needed a lawyer. Sixth-grade teachers at Peak to Peak Charter School initially rejected Elizabeth's choice of the biblical Book of Exodus for her report.
The Boulder Valley School District (Colorado) changed its stance after an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which specializes in religious-freedom issues, threatened to bring a civil rights suit.
Robert Corry, the Denver-based attorney
who represented Elizabeth, said schools can't discriminate against religious statements if they make an assignment involving expression. 'They have to treat religious speech the same way as every other kind of speech,' Corry said.
Teachers said that the Bible might offend other students of different religions. The
girl was also told not to bring her Bible to school." (Rocky Mountain News. 12/13/02.)
The issue, as I see it, is that if a school can allow certain types of beliefs(be they religious or non-religious) to be brought forth means that a school cannot discriminate against MY beliefs.
Libraries & Religious Rights
"A Florida city has agreed to allow free use of a community meeting room for a discussion on America's Christian heritage. Twice last year, Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal defense organization, applied for permission to use the community room in the Dunedin Public Library for the presentation, but was told the presentation could not be held because of its religious nature. A federal lawsuit was filed and, as Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver explains, the lawsuit has now been settled.
'The city attorney stated (originally) that the city strongly believes in the separation of church and state and operates its facilities accordingly,' Staver says. 'Well obviously, after reading the lawsuit, he changed his mind-and now the library has settled the case. The library settlement results in the repeat of the policy, and now Liberty Counsel will be able to use the facilities.' Staver says many cities nationwide have similar unconstitutional policies. The settlement in Dunedin, he says, sends a strong message. 'People of faith can't be treated as second-class citizens,' the attorney says. 'You can't discriminate against people's viewpoints solely because of its Christian character or nature. Any public facility open to the community for various kinds of discussion or meetings cannot slam the door on people of faith. The First Amendment was primarily designed to protect freedom of religion.'" (Agape Press. 3/18/03.)
Notice how the threat of a lawsuit causes the library to back down? That is because that after reviewing the evidence, they knew that they were in the wrong!
What you guys do not see is that I have had to sit through assemblies about Buddism or Hinduism under the guise of "cultural education" and then heard that Christian expressions were banned due to endorsement of religion. You can't call one "cultural" and call another "religious"!
This message has been edited by Phatboy, 05-31-2005 11:16 AM
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