Posted on 04/16/2015 11:21:14 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A public school district in Oklahoma has agreed to stop allowing for the distribution of Bibles following threatened legal action from an atheist organization.
Duncan Public Schools sent a letter to the American Humanist Association in response to a complaint leveled against an elementary school teacher who distributed several Gideon Bibles to her students.
Scott W. Stone, legal counsel for Duncan Schools, explained to the AHA's legal arm the Appignani Humanist Legal Center that actions were being taken in response to their complaint.
"All teachers and administrators in the district are being advised that they are not permitted to distribute Bibles or other religious materials to students in class or during class time," wrote Stone.
"Teachers and administrators in the district are being advised that they should not attempt to persuade students to take Bibles or other religious materials during class time."
Monica Miller, attorney with the Legal Center, said she was pleased with the school district's response to her organization's concerns.
"It is not the place of public schools to promote religion by handing out Bibles," Miller said in a statement released Monday.
"We appreciate the school's willingness to address the issue and to enforce the separation of church and state so that the rights of all students are upheld."
Earlier this mont,h Duncan became the center of a church and state controversy when the AHA and others learned of an incident wherein a third grade teacher passed out Gideon Bibles to students.
"Erica Mackey is a third grade teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Duncan, Oklahoma," reported Garrett Haley of Christian News Network
"Mackey reportedly announced to her students that she had several New Testament Bibles and asked if anyone would like one. Nearly all her students came up to her desk to get copies of the New Testaments."
On April 3, the Legal Center contacted the school system, telling them that "it is beyond clear that the school district violated the First Amendment by assisting in the distribution of Gideon Bibles to elementary school students."
While agreeing to halt the distribution of Bibles to elementary school students, Stone of Duncan Public Schools did not completely reject the possibility of Bible distribution for other grades.
"The District reserves the right to allow such distribution of Bibles or other religious materials insofar as it concerns secondary students," Stone wrote.
"Any such distribution shall only be permitted after a complete review and prior approval by the district's superintendent and the district's legal counsel to ensure that it is done without coercion and in a constitutionally acceptable manner."
The Bible is the best selling book in the world . . . wouldn’t want the public screwel kids to read a very popular book. Instructions on a condom wrapper or birth control package would be ok, though.
Most of them probably can’t read anyway.
Laugh in their face and keep distributing them.
Passing out Bibles is NOT “Congress establishing a religion”.
Easy peasy. Announce to the kids that free bibles will be available after school two feet off of school property. Hand them out.
—”All teachers and administrators in the district are being advised that they are not permitted to distribute Bibles or other religious materials to students in class or during class time,” wrote Stone.—
Will that include the religion of worshiping the state? Santa Claus? Atheism? islam? 0bama (I know for a fact 0bama is worshipped)?
The public schools are choc full of religion. Maybe someone should threaten legal action on those grounds as well.
What is the very first word in the First Amendment describing who it applies to??
See if the atheists would object to Qurans then.
If not, ask them why not.
But they can hand out condoms.
If the precedent stands that Bibles can be handed out, then there is no way to stop Qurans from being similarly handed out.
Now open your “science” book to chapter 1 Human Evolution and Climate Change.
Unfortunately, like most of the Constitution, the 1st Amendment has been interpreted to mean that teacher passing out Bibles in a county school is somehow the same as Congress establishing a religion.
Al Gores movie an Inconvenient Truth is a religious movie for Earth worshipers. Ban showing it in school.
In all fairness, EVERY atheist I know (and that is quite a few) *WOULD* object.
There is a long standing solution to this, but really for older children. That is for someone to set up a free distribution booth just off of school grounds.
The problem with younger children is that they are shepherded to the point where they are on the school buses, so they cannot easily get to where the Bibles are offered.
Another means is to offer the kids postcards, that if they want a Bible delivered to their home, they can just drop it in the mail.
The couple of them I ran into would not object out of fear of upsetting any muzzies.
Seem the Bible is the one book the can be banned or burned and the left is ok with it
If a book speaks against your worldview and lifestyle, of course you would want it banned.
The ones I know loath Muslims even more than they do Christians. And they most assuredly are *NOT* afraid of anyone who isn’t carrying something the caliber of which begins with a “4”. :-)
What any other person believes is absolutely none of my business unless and until they either prohibit or require actions based on their theological system.
When a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church...when a liberal is a non-believer, he wants any mention of God and religion silenced for everyone.
I’m an atheist and these types of atheists piss me off. Even if you’re a non- believer the Bible is still critical to our culture and history. Just more proof the world is full of a-holes.
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