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I'd like to clear up a few things here. First, the school, principal, etc did NOT BAN the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence or any such thing. What they did do was make this teacher get his lesson plans approved by the administration before he put the lesson plan to work. Now, here in Mississippi this is very common for someone to have to approve a lesson plan before it is taught. Maybe it's an odd thing in CA, I don't know.

Now, the problem they had with his lesson plans in the first place was that the teacher was taking excerpts from the various founding documents and making handouts with JUST these excerpts on them. These excerpts ONLY contained references to God or a Creator, etc, that were in the founding documents he was using.

What started this all off? Of the preceding paragraph, I am certain of its veracity.
But as to what precipitated the actions of the administration, I’m not 100% sure. However, based on early reports of the situation, and hearing personally from some of the involved people, what happened is as follows:

The administration had received previous complaints from parents and students that Mr. Williams had been, basically, proselytizing in his classroom. At some point before the administrative screening began, a student asked Mr. Williams why he had to say “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. In response, Mr. Williams made the handouts with excerpts from certain founding documents which supported his case that America was wholly founded as a Christian nation, and that was why this student had to say “under God” in the pledge.

I’m not trying to start a fight here. I believe that we were, basically, founded on Judeo-Christian values. I believe in God. I believe in lower taxes and strong families. I believe in States’ Rights and gun ownership. But I do not believe that teachers should be evangelizing students as a captive audience in a public school. If this is what happened, and again, I don’t know with 100% certainty that it did, then the school has every right to keep an eye on him.

My only real point here is that before a mob is started to torch the school (metaphorically speaking), I think we should know ALL the facts involved. And if a school DID ban the Constitution, DoI, etc on religious or ANY grounds, I would be first in line to demand that its certification and funding be withdrawn as it would not be able to teach history with any truth. However, even though I don’t have every fact, I DO know that that is NOT what happened in this case. So please, before we all have arteries popping, calm down and wait for all the facts to come out.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

AV

Folks the real story here is “Religious Right lies through their teeth”. And most of you suckers fell for it. Let me explain.

The Declaration was not banned in Cupertino. What was banned was a heavily edited handout with only the religious references in the Declaration – “nature’s God”, “Creator”, and “Divine Providence”. Also other handouts, that put together, show that this teacher was coming to class with an agenda to push – the “Christian Nation” line.

One handout had quotes from famous leaders regarding religion. One of the quotes, from George Washington, is now listed as “unauthenticated” by David Barton, a “Christian Heritage” proponent masquerading as a historian. Barton was the very guy who publicized these quotes in the 1990’s. Also in that handout, Jesus is quoted about the bible. Help me out here, what does that have to do with teaching the ‘religious, economic….etc.’ reasons that our nation was founded for that the teacher claims he was only following the California curriculum guidelines? Further, there is no countervailing opinions – for example, some of the things that Jefferson, Adams, or Paine said that would drive Jerry Falwell over the wall.

Another handout was the supposed “Washington Prayer Journal”. This document was rejected almost 100 years ago by the Smithsonian as not being an authentic Washington artifact – the handwriting did not match, and the spelling was too good. (Washington was a notoriously poor speller).

But what story was promoted by the Alliance Defense Fund and all the right wing radio talk show hosts? “Declaration was banned”. But when you look at it, it is clear the Declaration was NOT banned, and the principal was probably right to review – and reject – these supplemental materials being brought into the classroom.

So, the very people who want to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom violated one of them themselves – from ADF to Rush to Sean and the whole gamut of minor-city pundits : Thou shall not bear false witness, folks. I hope the CUSD board sues the pants off of ADF, Fox News, Rush, and Hannity for slander.