Posted on 01/18/2009 6:39:18 AM PST by kellynla
A Southwest Florida man who in past years has been allowed to distribute free Bibles to high school students on Religious Freedom Day was turned down this year by the district's superintendent.
Jerry Rutherford, president of World Changers, appeared before the Collier County School Board on Thursday to ask for a reversal of the decision but received the same response.
"This rejection is a slap in the face," said Rutherford, according to Naples News. "The decision to deny access to community groups that are religious in nature is censorship and bias."
In November, Rutherford routinely submitted his request to set up tables offering free Bibles to district students on Religious Freedom Day. But Superintendent Dennis Thompson, who had allowed the activity in the past two years, denied his request last week.
During the meeting with the district board, Rutherford cited the 1998 decision by a federal appeals court in Peck vs. The Upshur County School Board. The case upheld a West Virginia school district’s right to give out any outside materials both religious and non-religious in a passive manner one day a year.
The Orlando-based Liberty Counsel also sent a letter on behalf of Rutherford to the board asking for the reversal of the decision. The Christian legal group had even offered to litigate the district’s position for free.
But the board said it would stand behind the decision made by Thompson.
Rutherford says it's unconstitutional that he has been barred from passing out Bibles when the district allows other community groups, like the military, to distribute literature to students.
"We're losing our religious freedoms and that is very scary to me," he said, according to WINK News.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianpost.com ...
This is ridiculous. Because no bibles had been imported from England during the Revolution, the first US Congress voted to print 20,000 bibles at government expense.
I guess that they-the Founders and authors of the Constitution—did not think this was unconstitutional or an establishment of religion by the federal government.
I always felt sorry for that guy. We Jews were indifferent to the men handing out the bibles, and the one person who it meant something to did not get to have one. It was kind of sad.
What is the big deal about handing these bibles out anyway? I bet that if they were handing out korans the ACLU would have been all over the school to let them.
There is only one possible solution: Begin the process of privatizing universal K-12 education.
Government schools always were, are now, and always will be a First Amendment and freedom of conscience nightmare!
Christians believe in sharing the “good news” of the gospel. In fact, it is a commandment.
So...Government schools offer an opportunity to offer the gospel to a huge group of essentially captive inmates ( misnamed “students”) who are at a very impressionable age.
The problem here is that fundamentally government schools are a freedom of conscience and First Amendment nightmare. They can not be “fixed” because the concept of compulsory attendance and compulsory taxpayer funding is fundamentally at odds with freedom of conscience.
Please read post #14. I explain why in that post.
The only possible solution is to begin privatizing universal K-12 education.
I should have clarified. The guys handing out the Bibles were not on school grounds, but just off campus. That way, they steered clear of authority.
Technically, yeah, they did.
I am Christian that is faithful in her faith and denomination. Basically, I see these people as taking advantage of children who under police threat ( literally) to be assembled in a government designated place.
How many of these people who are handing out these bibles send their own children into these godless pits of spiritual darkness ( misnamed “public schools”)? I would bet, MANY!
A Christian’s **most** important mission field is his **own* children first. His second most important mission field is that of his congregation. I bet many of those attempting to hand out bibles are failing miserably at this. They would be far more effective if they concentrated on offering a Christian education to their own children first, and then offering this opportunity to as many non-Christians as resources allowed.
By the way, a Christian ( or Jewish) education does not need to be expensive. Homeschoolers have proven this! With homeschool cooperatives, mini-schools, and one room school houses many, many children could be rescued from the godless government indoctrination camps. What is lacking is the imagination and will to do it.
On RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY? Bizarre.
Yes, there will...
He even LOOKS like an uptight liberal.
The hardcover Bible could have been especially published for Jewish people, showing them special scriptures that point to their Messiah as Jesus.
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Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
We opened a Christian school in our church 25 years ago. It’s a wonderful place to be educated. We charge a certain amount but any child who wants a Christian education can come and we will work with their parents to help them. Of course, we haven’t operated in the black until recently. People are beginning to see how valuable a Christian education really is and will sacrifice. We have one family that travels quite a distance to bring their children here. They’ve been in school since kindegarten and there are seven of them. Not all in school, yet, but they will be.
This would have broken my dear father’s heart. He was a Gideon International and distributed Bibles for years on campuses and prisons.
Judgement is coming to America , yes , it is already here!
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