Posted on 12/12/2006 4:43:07 PM PST by GretchenM
"The effect of this court decision is that it permanently prohibits this school from discriminating against religious speech within the context of its school talent shows. Today's ruling is a tremendous victory for religious liberty and free speech, especially for students."
... a second-grader in the Frenchtown Elementary school in NJ had been banned from performing the song Awesome God (made famous by the late Rich Mullins), not only for its religious genre, but also because of its "proselytizing nature."
This week however, a federal court issued a ruling preventing the school from censoring any future religious songs performed by students in school talent shows.
U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson maintained that a song, chosen and sung "by an individual student ... was the private speech of a student and not a message conveyed by the school itself."
The court ruling also stated: "Frenchtown had solicited individual student performances for the talent show. Indeed, the only restrictions communicated to students were set forth in the guidelines for the talent show, which included a requirement that the performance must be 'G-rated.'"
"Moreover, religious performances were welcomed by the school; for example, after [a school official] rejected 'Awesome God,' she encouraged Plaintiff to choose another song to perform and explained that Plaintiff could choose a religious one if she so desired."
[The school] "would have permitted ... performers to encourage audience members to: espouse a belief that it is important to take care of the earth ... espouse a belief that it is important to help poor and impoverished people ... and to lean on friends when they experience hardships."
"In light of Frenchtown's tolerance of both religious and 'proselytizing' content in the context of the talent show, ... I find that the Board's refusal to allow Plaintiff to perform the song 'Awesome God' at the Frenchtown Elementary School talent show amounted to unlawful viewpoint discrimination."
Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, commented, "The effect of this court decision is that it permanently prohibits this school from discriminating against religious speech within the context of its school talent shows. Today's ruling is a tremendous victory for religious liberty and free speech, especially for students."
Our God IS an awesome God!
-PJ
Amen.
Clear reasoning, good ruling. Thanks Judge Freda Wolfson!
This is GOOD!
He reigns from heaven above.
Good news FYI
fyi
Sanity out of a courtroom!
Did I read that right? (stunned)(Or is the stuned)
In a sea of anti-Christian idiocy,
finally a piece of driftwood appears
on the horizon.
A victory for common sense and decency. Both sorely missing from public schools across America.
I believe the tide is turning, in the right direction, sirch. But it's extremely important that the president gets a third USSC justice appointed, in the mold of Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito. The courts have insidiously become the new Congress, usurping authority and writing new laws having no connection with the federal Constitution. Just as the courts have been twisted into something unrecognizable from what the founders intended, they can be returned to their true purposes.
/rant
Confirmed Nov. 14, 2002 for NJ judicial district.
fyi
fyi
Here are the horrifyingly prosetylizing lyrics, by Michael W. Smith:
When He rolls up His sleeves He ain't just puttin' on the ritz
(our God is an awesome God)
There is thunder in His footsteps, and lightning in His fist
(our God is an awesome God)
Well, the Lord wasn't joking when He kicked 'em out of Eden
It wasn't for no reason that He shed his blood
His return is very close and so you better be believing
that our God is an awesome God
REFRAIN
Our God(our God) is an awesome God
He reigns(He reigns) from heaven above
With wisdom(with wisdom) pow'r and love
our God is an awesome God
And when the sky was starless in the void of the night
(our God is an awesome God)
He spoke into the darkness and created the light
(our God is an awesome God)
Judgment and wrath he poured out on to Sodom
Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross
I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten that
our God is an awesome God
Refrain x3
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
(Our God is an awesome God)
(Our God is an awesome God)
Thank you, Judge Wolfson, from the bottom of my heart.
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