Posted on 08/17/2005 6:10:25 PM PDT by NYer
ROHNERT PARK, CA, August 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Students in a northern California city recently won the right to wear pro-marriage t-shirts after school officials were warned against restricting their free speech.
Tired of the constant barrage of messages contrary to their beliefs, student members of the Conservative Club at a high school in Rohnert Park decided to express their own traditional values for a change. Working with staff attorneys at Pacific Justice Institute, as well as PJI affiliate attorney Bill Trask, the students selected a t-shirt message which clearly stated the students support for traditional marriage, including a quote from the Bible, in a manner which was respectful, non-threatening and legally defensible.
Since the students had been threatened by school officials with suspension if they wore t-shirts expressing their values, PJI sent a letter to school officials explaining the students First Amendment rights to wear expressive clothing. The letter cited numerous cases which have specifically upheld students rights to wear expressive apparel, including Tinker v. Des Moines, a landmark 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision which declared, Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the view of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk, and our history says it is this sort of hazardous freedomthis kind of opennessthat is the basis of our national strength.
After PJI sent the letter on behalf of these students, school officials abandoned their position and made no further attempts to discipline students for exercising their rights. The students were therefore allowed to wear their pro-marriage t-shirts for the remainder of the school year.
Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, commented, As we begin another school year, its important to remember that students and teachers do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gates. Our youth have open doors to express their faiththrough their clothing, in school assignments, and in after-school activities to name but a few. Were excited as we look ahead to another great year of defending religious freedom in our educational institutions.
"Win" the right? They always HAD the right to do so. But it got TAKEN AWAY by bureaucrats.
So, what do the shirts say?
I'm curious, too.
Amazing, simply amazing.
I got so bent out of shape that I forgot to push my usual plug for ways to fast track kids through high school to avoid the liberal agenda and other idiocies:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315730/posts?page=84#84
Unfortunately my thread title was not well thought out, because some parents might instinctively skip over it due to attached stigma, whether real or imagined.
There's a "Conservative Club" at a California high school??? There may be hope for us yet.
Hmmm... I have one that says "Adam and Eve, NOT Adam and Steve". Homemade, of course, but it's a possibility.
I don't think your suggestion would be considered "respectful."
"Who'd a thunk..."
It is amazing how far the far-left counterculture has come in just 40 yrs or so. And its even more depressing and disheartening that it has come about largely through undemocratic means -- bureaucracy and judicial activism -- because it makes it seem almost unstoppable.
Yeah Riiiiiggghhht!
Can you believe they would actually write this article and leave out the very heart of the matter (The slogan on the shirts?)
Amen to all you said!
I would also add:
undemocratic means -- bureaucracy, judicial activism, and a willing media.
Dive by zero not defined.
Dive --> Divide
How about a nice biblical reference. 1 Corinthans 11:11 sounds nice...
Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
Or maybe 1 Corinthians 7:2...
Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
Now I suppose we must define 'wife' and 'husband'. (These are per dictionary.com)
Wife: A woman joined to a man in marriage; a female spouse.
Husband: A man joined to a woman in marriage; a male spouse.
Waitaminute... better define 'fornication' too, just in case.
Fornication: Sexual intercourse between partners who are not married to each other. (Note it's updated to be PC)
That is pro-marriage. In the anti-homosexuality ring, we have Leviticus 18:22.
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Now, given the patriarchal society in which the Old Testament was written, we can assume that the Bible is addresing a male. Here we learn that Man + Man = Abomination. 'Abomination' is the most powerful word to describe an abhorrence in the Bible. Tough Stuff. The conclusion: Homosexuality is wrong. Perverse. Immoral.
And so we come to the conclusion that Man + Woman = Good and Man + Man = Not Good. So maybe I'll throw some of this stuff on my next shirt.
Speaking of that... everybody loves Che Guevara too. My friends named their pet gecko Che.
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