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.
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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
There is not only freedom of speech but also the freedom not to listen. Ponder upon it at leisure. When in my elementary school years in the thucking USSR they in a similar manner were passing their ideological crap, a copy given to me always ended in the school toilet.
I knew you mean it that way; I just decided to run with it in a different direction.
> Just curious, what would one give an atheist? a gift book or maybe a road atlas so they can find their own way?
Give 'em a Bible; atheists have been known to be converted by reading. I think what you meant was, what would an atheist -hand out- to others? I like the road atlas idea.
It doesn't sound like anyone was actually forced to take the offering of the Gideons.
I agree -- Gideons are very unforceful, in my experience.
> More so that the offering was made that was offensive to a few parents.
As I pointed out, there are many things I would prefer not be offered to my daughter, at school or elsewhere.
> 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.
I think homeschooling is a terrific option. I bet we see increasing amounts of it as time goes on.
> it seems when the few are allowed to determine how the majority should live, no one is satisfied.
I think it's not right for any group to determine how another group should live. The beauty of the State model is that you get your choice of State to live in. Unfortunately, too much power is aggregating at the federal level.
> 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.
Yep. I pray that folks lighten up. Might take decades, though, and I'm 54...
I'm not an American, but I can't see the rationale behind this decision.
Gideons is a private organisation, not connected to the State. If they want to give people something for free, surely they have a right to do that. Its no different from handing out leaflets on the street, or getting junk mail through the post.
After all, as a previous correspondant states - they aren't forcing people to take them, let alone read them. Presumably the recipients can simply hand them back.
So how come this is abusing someones rights? Am I missing something?
Is that right?
Check out the ACLU's stance on children viewing Porn on computers in the Public libraries.
Censorship in a Box: Why Blocking Software is Wrong for Public Libraries (9/16/2002)
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/speech/14915pub20020916.html
Fellatious reasoning. Driving is not a right but a privilege, conditional on acceptance of traffic laws. Being in a public school as a student is not considered a privilege but a right, not conditional on being bibled at. As for whether those unwilling to be the subjects of bibling were given an easy opt-out - there's no info. On this one the judge is absolutely correct.
>>> Driving is not a right but a privilege <<<
Wrong! Driveing is a right!
http://www.aclu.org/scotus/2001/14792prs20020416.html
Ofcourse, when it has to do with Porn, it is a 'free speech' issue.
When it has to do with the Bible it is a separation of church and state issue.
For the ACLU, the Bible is more threatening to children then Porn is, since it represents a threat to their own secular world view.
Never underestimate the wickedness of your enemy.
Can we get going on a program to remove the federal judiciary? In today's world they are quite anachronistic ~ nothing they are doing can't be done better by state supervised courts.
Isn't it always better to let the people decide.
Oh, yes, toilet paper is a "cultural value", and we impose it for a variety of reasons ~ one of which is we don't have these little bottles of water around.
At some point we may "force" the kindergarteners to give up their thongs too and switch to a different sort of underwear whether their mothers like it or not.
You're mad at those crafty Gideons for passing out religious works in a place where the kids are conditioned to be sheeple. No fair adding their soap to the socialist brainwashing!
You can add to your list the fact that Thomas Jefferson himself attended church services held in the US Treasury building in DC.
The Board then voted to allow the Gideons to come into the school that fall and distribute Bibles. Shortly after this meeting, Superintendent Lewis submitted his letter of resignation, effective at the end of the school year,
indicating that he felt the Board was “headed down a path that is both illegal and costly” to the District.
Guess what? He was right.
Maybe they should hand out Penthouse and get the ACLU on their side first to set a precedent of free speech.
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
Great. I encoursge my kids to know as much about other religions as possible.
I wouldn't be please if killers came but I would still encourage my children to read what they might give them. You may be afraid your children can't handle different ideas but I think that it is very wrong to block them from it.
That said, what exactly about Christian principles in the bible gives you equal concern with the terrorist's principles in removing the Israel and the great satan (the US) from the face of the earth? Even my 11 year old could make the distinction, can't you?
"The Board then voted to allow the Gideons to come into the school that fall and distribute Bibles. Shortly after this meeting, Superintendent Lewis submitted his letter of resignation, effective at the end of the school year,
indicating that he felt the Board was “headed down a path that is both illegal and costly” to the District."
Do you not think there was a way around this? Surely a smart lawyer could have figured out a simple scheme of distribution that would have got a Bible to each child without conflicting with the school board rules.
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