Posted on 05/21/2008 6:01:20 AM PDT by SJackson
Some Plano students who are Jewish say they were pressured or taunted to pick up copies of the New Testament from school display tables during recent weeks.
Their parents have called for changes in district policies that allow outside groups to distribute materials on campus.
"Probably the one I heard the most was, 'If the Bible touched you, like, will you burn or something?' " said Jeffrey Lavine, 16, a sophomore at Vines High School. "I sort of played it down as a joke and everything, which it was, but it was definitely a meaner comment than what we're used to."
Plano officials said they pulled aside some students to talk about respect and tolerance after the recent complaints, but no students have been disciplined.
The New Testaments were part of unmanned displays set up by Gideons International, a nondenominational Christian group that has visited a dozen Plano schools in recent months.
District officials said a judge's order prevents them from excluding groups based on their beliefs.
The ruling stems from a 1999 lawsuit in which parents claimed officials stopped them from handing out information that was critical of a district math program, said Superintendent Doug Otto.
"As long as some people have access to the distribution table, all people have access," Dr. Otto said. "That is the policy, and we're trying our best to make people aware of it. We certainly don't want people to think we endorse one religion over another."
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Yeah in a perfect world. Back in the day when God was in schools the 3 R’s were taught and those generations built all the cool stuff the new generations think they did, but really only use.
You could go to public school when I was a kid and God was there too not like today.
It didn’t hurt anybody. This notion of no God in school is a fairly new invention pushed by the usualm suspects in the 40s and onwards.
Btw...read the article, no one is forcing these Jewish kids to do squat except walk past a table with Gideon’s Bibles....lol....the horror.
Other kids taunting them....tuff shite.....it’s a hard world. If that’s the worst they have to endure from their fellow man then they will be lucky.
The Jewish kids I grew up with could give back just fine...especially verbally.
I agree about the "intimidation", if not this, it will be going on over something else.
Personally I'd confine the distribution of New Testaments to student groups or clubs, rather than the entire school body, since this requires opening things up to all faiths. And yes there are faiths I don't want recruiting in the schools. I'm thinking of certain strains of Islam here. What struck me was the Superintendent's claim that he's obligated to facilitate the distribution of religious material. That's absurd.
Our church distributes over 2000 children's books (none are religious) in one elementary school every year. That is about 6 free books per student. A great many of the students would not have a book of their own at home without this book giveaway. We have also provided many hundreds of hours of tutoring for reading and math. We take the entire school to Discovery Place every year free of charge. Other field trips where the parents have to pay, we pay for any child that cannot afford it. No child is ever left out of any field trip simply because they lacked the money. We are not there to convert anyone, we value our children's education and we are only there to help. The school does not have the resources to do any of this and welcomes our help.
So don't think that every church or outside organization that provides help and materials to schoolchildren are out to further their agenda, market to your children or to spread propaganda. I would guess that most organizations do it simply because they care.
What does a math curriculum have to do with “outside access”? Teach the math and stop the other stuff.
Here is a link providing information about the lawsuit: Disconnecting Schoolchildren from 'Connected' Math
These were just concerned parents that wanted the school to teach real math and not fuzzy math.
I call BS on your BS.
When I was growing up:
1. my Dad was stationed in Texas where his head was examined for the “horns” Jews were supposed to have.
2. At the same time he was fed nothing but Spam (pork) while training to go defend this country.
3. Jews were not allowd to buy homes in certain neigboroods (read Gentlemen’s Agreement)
4. There were quotas on the number of Jews allowed into medical schools. Like one. Ditto the Ivys
shall I go on?
btw....some foolio on religious threads here screaming silly garbage is not indicative of anything except some crazy anti-Catholic screed by one maniac.
nothing more....stack that up against the 99.9% neutral to pro-Catholic bias you find here and you will see a mirror of our culture as a whole.
one thing though.....Catholics used to get a better treatment from modern cinema than Protestants ever have but the Priest scandals ruined that. Now Hollywood bashes priests non stop. It gave the Godless an excuse to do what they wante to do anyhow
AMEN!
While there are some people that give Christinaity a bad name (Protestant, Catholic, Mormon...etc.) the VAST overwhelming evidence is that if anyone is under attack it is just the average everyday Christians fighting on the front lines trying to preserve our culture in this country:
www.ThomasMore.org
www.ACLJ.org
Schools making little kids sing ‘O holiday tree’ instead of ‘O Christmas Tree’, because well, you know, just the mere word Christmas is *GASP* offensive!
Christmas was banned from Dec. 25th in our district...you know that FEDERAL HOLIDAY that the Georgia ACLU also finds “too offensive”.
Las Cruces N.M. with crosses in the town’s logo under attack, which would stand to reason since Las Cruces MEANS “the crosses” in Spanish and has been in place for hundreds of years!
TOO OFFENSIVE!
Just like Los Angeles had to remove the cross in it’s logo...
William and Mary’s CHAPEL forced to remove a crucifix, (while muslim foot baths are being installed in liberal colleges)?
all over the country there are literally dozens and dozens of these examples, NOT the other way around! Christianity is targeted like no other religion by Godless liberals because they all too often get away with it!
They know Jews are off limits, as well as any cult, and forget about Islam, they’re afraid to get their head stomped in or blown to bits so they turn to the easy majority target: Christianity!
Liberal lunatics angry at Christ are the REAL problem, that and people mostly getting confused to see Christians pushing back for a change!!!
Liberalism is quite literally a dangerous disease!
I’m not a big fan of zero tolerance. Schools should be in the business of education, not suppression of information. Some items are simply not appropriate for schools. That should be enough to keep the wackos at bay.
“”Probably the one I heard the most was, ‘If the Bible touched you, like, will you burn or something?’ “
“You won’t burst into flames, I promise.”-My favorite line when inviting my hardcore party friends to church.
>>Btw...read the article, no one is forcing these Jewish kids to do squat except walk past a table with Gideon’s Bibles....lol....the horror.<<
Ya know, I’m talking about the Gideans, the Jehovah Witnesses, the Knights of Columbus, Coca-Cola, Mastercard, Nike, or Salem Cigarettes. NO marketing in schools.
Get it out. It has no business in the schools. Anyone “Distributing” anything should not be allowed on school property.
Want to make a career day and bring them in? Cool. Every day? It’s not what school is for.
“You’re using the smoke screen of an article on Christian-Jewish relations in order to promote an Islamic group’s Quoran give-away???”
Perhaps he is related to THAT sniper? He could merely be helping target shooters acquire a free source of targets.
Then again, he could actually be a Constitutionally aware American and want others to read the Quoran so that they can realize how totally it is both antithetical to, and irreconcilable with, America and the entire Western culture.
While there's been discrimination in the past as there has with all groups at times. The fact that Leo Frank (and Al Sharpton's pogrum) stand out, demonstrates that antisemetic violence in the US was never an issue. During a period which it was endemic in Europe.
>>Catholics used to get a better treatment from modern cinema than Protestants ever have but the Priest scandals ruined that. <<
No. Both Catholics and Protestants were treated better by Hollywood in the 40s and 50s.
The 60s brought garbage on all of us. It had less to do with the Priest scandal then the overall tone of the 60s.
But that’s for another thread.
“I believe someone telling you they homeschool because of anti-Catholic bigotry, in this state, is likely as thin-skinned as the Jewish kid in this article, or making stuff up, outright.”
Could said WAAAMBULANCE riders be trolling for a lawsuit?
Considering the number of under employed shysters, one does wonder.
Could also be pointing out that if schools are required (he's wrong on that) to allow, or simply allow, the distribution of New Testaments, in this case by Gideon, among other things they're required to do is allow the distribution of the Quran. CAIR will be happy to provide that service, as will the MSA. If CAIR wan't to distribute them, let them distribute Qurans to members of the Muslim club, not the student body as a whole. The Muslim Students Association I'd keep out all together, but I bet that effort wouldn't be successful.
What is meant by “some complain” the media loves this meaningless title.
One of the youngest signers (Dr. Benjamin Rush, 1745-1813) wrote “Why the Bible Should Taught in our public schools. Yes,our founderss said the Bible belongs our schools. And so do I. Without these principles there would and will be no public schools. If we neglect the only means of perpetuating our form of government, which is upon this divine book, the Bible we will lose all.
Um...not really:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Frank
I can't agree with your post. Ever since the first Jewish peddler walked through the South carrying a pack of sewing supplies, Southerners would open their Bibles and discuss religious questions with said Jews.
There is quite a deep respect for Jews among Southern Christians because they see Jews as the People G*d chose.
There are other aspects of their view of Jews that are contradictory, but welcome to being human.
For an example of how European Christians treated each other, Google St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. That was between Catholic and Huguenot.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre was less religious than simple robbery, murder, and the taking of women and children.
We Americans have indeed lived in a blessed peace regarding religion.
>>Our church distributes over 2000 children’s books (none are religious) in one elementary school every year. That is about 6 free books per student. <<
None of what you brought up is a table set up to distribute.
Have you been in a High School and seen the marketing there? It should not be allowed. NO outside group should be allowed to set up a table and market. Not a religious group, Cola-Cola, Mastercard, Nothing.
Kids are there to be educated, not marketed to.
“You have got to be kidding.”
About what?
As a parent who had children in the Plano schools back in the 1980’s, I can tell you, with first-hand knowledge, that the Plano ISD was controlled by Liberals who indoctrinated students with NEA propaganda. I worked in politics at that time and was part of a parents’ rights group that challenged the Plano School Board and Superintendent. We read school textbooks and attended textbook hearings and used the Freedom of Information act to obtain school curriculum. We found that the Plano ISD was indoctrinating students with Liberalism and playing psychological games (behavior modification, situation ethics, etc.) rather than teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. During that period of time, I assisted one of President Reagan’s committees that issued the report “A Nation At Risk.”
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html
The committee that issued this report had copies of Plano ISD curriculum and students’ paperwork that I personally sent to Washington, D.C.
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