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Posted on 09/07/2006 10:51:37 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
ST. LOUIS - A federal judge ordered a small-town school to suspend a program that gives free Bibles to students, saying it improperly promotes Christianity.
U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Perry also scolded school officials for continuing the program after warnings that it violated the Constitution.
South Iron Elementary in Annapolis, a town of 300 in southeastern Missouri, has quietly allowed Gideons International to hand out Bibles to fifth-graders for years. After concerns were raised last year, the then-superintendent consulted with the district's attorneys and insurance company and recommended that the handouts stop, but the school board voted to continue them.
Acting on behalf of two sets of parents from the district, the American Civil Liberties Union sued in February in federal court in St. Louis.
"The defendants were repeatedly told that their actions violated the Constitution, but they chose not to heed those cautions," Perry wrote in the preliminary injunction issued Wednesday.
A final ruling is not expected for months.
Eastern Missouri ACLU legal director Anthony Rothert said the injunction was "a victory for parents who want to direct the religious upbringing of their children without interference from public schools."
Erik Stanley — an attorney for Liberty Counsel, part of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., which represented the school district — called the ruling unconstitutional and said it would continue to fight the case.
Gideons, based in Nashville, Tenn., distributes more than 63 million pocket-sized Bibles each year in hotels, prisons, hospitals and schools worldwide, according to the organization's Web site. A spokesman for the organization declined to comment.
___
On the Net:
School district: http://schoolweb.missouri.edu/southiron.k12.mo.us
Eastern Missouri ACLU: http://www.aclu-em.org
Liberty Counsel: http://www.lc.org
Judge Perry is a 1994 Clinton appointee
Yeah, well I think U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Perry improperly promotes corrosive secularism and the social and moral nihilism it produces.
There must be the right not to be bibled at [ditto for being koraned, torahed, rigvedaed and so on] against one's will. The least they could have done was to ask for the willing recipients and hand the bibles to them only.
The least they could have done was to ask for the willing recipients and hand the bibles to them only.
--
That would seem to be a reasonable approach.
The article says 2 sets of parents were the complainants in this instance. This program had been going on for years it seems.
---Acting on behalf of two sets of parents from the district, the American Civil Liberties Union sued in February in federal court in St. Louis.---
Perhaps that explains why he seems to have more than passing familiarity with the U.S. Constitution.
Sheesh. I still 2 or 3 little Gideon Bibles from when I was in school 20 years ago. I'm not particularly religious, but I was never offended or threatened when I was handed a Bible.
Not THAT book! Oh my!
Forcing anything , be it a bible or a roll of toilet paper, on those who do not want to receive it, fundamentally hurts.
An interesting speculation.
But suppose it actually WAS Korans. How would you feel about that?
Suppose it was copies of the Jehovah's Witnesses' "Watchtower". How would you feel about that?
Suppose it was copies of a Hare Krishna cult's recruiting booklet. How would you feel about that?
Suppose it was a pamphlet explaining that while one (other) brand of Christianity is true, your particular brand of it is wrong and your children are going to burn in hell for heresy?
Once you let "our" side hand stuff out, you gotta let 'em ALL hand stuff out.
I'm not at all sure I feel good about that.
Thank God for the ACLU, protecting American children from the Bible.
And which side do you think they would be on if this was Porn?
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Oh for Pete's sake. The ACLU might defend the rights of adults to view porn, but even they know better than to claim kids have a right to it.
As we attack the ACLU, let's at least keep our minds clear. It improves our chances of winning.
Give me a break!!!! They're not FORCING anything on anyone - they're handing them books. The receivers are perfectly free to reject the bibles, take them home, color in them or toss them in the trash.
Thanks for your comments. I left the sarcasm tag off, should have probably put it on.
Just curious, what would one give an atheist? a gift book or maybe a road atlas so they can find their own way?
It doesn't sound like anyone was actually forced to take the offering of the Gideons.
More so that the offering was made that was offensive to a few parents.
if anyone is at fault , it is the school board, but then the question will be if they are within their bounds to act as they have or should an outside org. be able to exert undue influeence over what is ideally a local operation. the parents can always move if they were that offended is what comes to mind, or maybe homeschool.
it seems when the few are allowed to determine how the majority should live, no one is satisfied.
i don't feel too good about that myself. when choice is gone , so is hope, it seems.
we'll have to see how this plays out or if it just peters out.
"Forcing anything , be it a bible or a roll of toilet paper, on those who do not want to receive it, fundamentally hurts."
I don't believe force was an issue.
"A federal judge ordered a small-town school to suspend a program that gives free Bibles to students..."
This is a freedom of speech issue.
Would you consider a politician offering bumper stickers and pins on the street corner fundamentally threatening?
Would you consider a school offering free condoms to students an act of forcing them to have sex?
Is your fear in the Bible itself?
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