Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School

Reuters via Drudge ^ | 11/24/04 | Dan Whitcomb

[CGASMIA68]

Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School Wed Nov 24, 2004 04:12 PM ET

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.

Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.

"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.

"Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."

Vidmar could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose and claims violations of Williams rights to free speech under the First Amendment.

Phyllis Vogel, assistant superintendent for Cupertino Unified School District, said the lawsuit had been forwarded to a staff attorney. She declined to comment further.

Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.

Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."

"He hands out a lot of material and perhaps 5 to 10 percent refers to God and Christianity because that's what the founders wrote," said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. "The principal seems to be systematically censoring material that refers to Christianity and it is pure discrimination."

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a California atheist who wanted the words "under God" struck from the Pledge of Allegiance as recited by school children. The appeals court in California had found that the phrase amounted to a violation of church and state separation.

[Lurker]

I hate when that happens.

L

[fabian]

The public school system does so much damage to kids, it's really sad.

[My2Cents]

Please, we beg of you to do so!

[Daaave]

Saint Francis of Assisi, my favorite Saint. There's an okay movie about his life, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, by Franco Zeffirelli.

I believe St. Francis also is known for re-enacting the birth of Christ, the Nativity, to celebrate Christmas.

http://www.tldm.org/Christmas/Nativity-scene.htm

[spodefly]

Stevens Creek School
http://www.cupertino.k12.ca.us/Stcreek.www/
10300 Ainsworth Drive
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 245-3312

Patricia Vidmar, Principal
(408) 245-3312 x 110
Fax (408) 245-7484

Part of the Cupertino Union School District:
http://cupertino.ca.campusgrid.net/home
10301 Vista Drive
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 252-3000

William E. Bragg, Superintendent
bragg_bill@cupertino.k12.ca.us

Board:
board@cupertino.k12.ca.us

[dokmad]

"A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -"

Don't they screen teachers for mental illness in the hiring process? This is political correctness gone mad! I can't wait for the big earthquake to drop California off into the pacific!

[stands2reason]

I'm not surprised. Another anti-Muslim thread was loaded with newbies. In fact, when I pointed out that most of the haters were questionable newbies, one of them went off on me, stating I didn't have to get "nasty." The newbie doth protest too much, methinks.

Our post-election trolls (many joined on the 3rd and later) are performing as the "more conservative than thou" splitters and "eeeevil conservative" stereotypes. I'm not surprised -- if I was a troll, that's what I'd do.

[Paul Atreides]

Don't they screen teachers for mental illness in the hiring process?

Of course, they screen for mental illness: why do you think that the schools are so full of liberal teachers?

[pray4liberty]

For crying out loud, the Declaration is a historical document. The principal is nothing short of crazy.

Maybe all his students could show solidarity in wearing a T-shirt with the Declaration or the Bill of Rights on it and really put her panties in a twist.

[TLI]

Just half? Your not in as bad of shape as others may have lead you to believe . . . .

[TLI]

"Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."

Ok dammit, that is just about enough. When we have a situation where serious discussion is occurring referring to the establishment clause as to whether or not a grade school teacher can SHOW a student a copy of the DECLARATION OF INDEPEPENDENCE then the situation is BEYOND the pail of reason and has progressed to the realm of "someone need to get the commie ass kicked, kicked hard, vigorously, and repeatedly until they have the "epiphany" that the little commie c**k s*****s like to claim "comes to them."

Inclusive of said "epiphany" will be the hammering home of the fact that every time some crapola such as this comes to light, some hard case Conservative Constitutionalists will head out and purchase one more case of ammo, one more "ugly gun" one more case of MRE's, one more tent, one more water filter, one more solar panel, one more medical kit, one more stack of silver coins, one more case of nitrogen packed dehydrated beef or chicken, one more shortwave radio, one more every damn thing for the day that they will have to go independent of the system in order to bring this Republic back to a level of Constitutional sanity that will allow American Citizens the freedom to actually live in peace for a few lousy months without having to hear about some sniveling screeching communist queer rasping on about how they are "offended" by a 1950's recording of Judy Garland or some other burn in hell LIE ! ! !

[WakingCrow]

Amen. I also believe commies should be beaten regularly until their sense returns.

[TLI]

Amen. I also believe commies should be beaten regularly until their sense returns.

For many alleged "progressive (the new buzz word) liberals" that would constitute a death sentence.

[groundhogsteve]

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.

[TLI]

T - R - O - L - L

groundhogsteve

Since Dec 10, 2004

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groundhogsteve hasn't created an about page. But if he had, it might start with his pic.

[TLI]

Interesting. "Walking Crow" and groundhogsteve seem to have the same creation date. Ol groundhog is nothing but troll posts and walking crow? One (1) post. Very interesting, I wonder of the mods can see their NIC ID.

WakingCrow

Since Dec 10, 2004

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WakingCrow hasn't created an about page.

[SteveH]

I regret that I am probably out of my element on many of the detailed aspects of the relationship between government and Christianity. I followed an earlier link from groundhogsteve:

http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm

which has another link to a web page on Thomas Jefferson quotes:

http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/jefferson.htm

I am somewhat of a loss at what to write at this moment, exect that I hold historical accuracy in very high regard, as well as the works of Thomas Jefferson.

[Smartaleck]

"Ol groundhog is nothing but troll posts"

What part of his/her comments are incorrect?

[Smartaleck]

In another FR post........here
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1288575/posts

The words Ground is using came from here......

http://www.claremont.org/weblog/001676.html

[SteveH]

I caught somewhere a commentary on the original complaint filed by the Alliance Defense Fund here:

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/story/?id=549

and the complaint itself (pdf format) here:

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/media/WilliamsvCupertinoComplaint.pdf

I viewed the complaint attachments. I notice item #40, which in turn appears to refer to some of the attachments to the complaint.

What do you think about #40 and some of the attachments to the complaint, in particular? Do they seem viable to you for a fifth grade public school class?

I imagine it would also be interesting to know the veracity of the claims for and against "George Washington's Prayer Journal" (exhibit G; from William J. Johnston, George Washington, the Christian (New York: The Abingdon Press, New York and Cincinnati, 1919), pp. 24-25, and apparently identified in complaint, #40(f) ("excerpts from George Washington's journal") as being one of the class handouts...

For the record, I attended a Catholic primary school for 8 years...