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.
___
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
OK -- what "right" has been removed?
Sounds like we're pretty much on the same track.
Always my preference when dealing with fellow FReepers.
The local Gideons in my area by my son's school stand on the corner on a public sidewalk and hand out Bibles there. When I saw them, I donated money to them and told them thanks.
I already have a vision of the meaning of "is"...
I don't.
The evidence is Clinton (well, his wife actually did the selecting while he counted their bribe money) picked judges who just hated every principle in it.
Gosh - I just be funnin' a little.
Actually, few would call me a fundamentalist. I study the Bible, the Vedas, am not opposed to the basic moral principles of Buddhism, and am not afraid to read any scripture in the world! I have friends who meditate, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, and Catholics! I even enjoy discussions with Jehovah's Witnesses (although I do try to help them understand the difference between the soul and the body).
No, I don't think anyone would call me a Fundatmentalist. Unless, by that supposed perjorative, you mean a person who believes that the foundation of life is God, and that the Constitution does not have the words "separation of church and state" in it anywhere.
Personally, I think if representatives of various religions want to speak in a school or hand out religious books, if they parents want them there, they should be allowed to come. Why not?
Fair 'nuff, pardner.
Shake?
;-)
It would be interesting to see what your response would be if 51% of the people where live were Muslim and they wanted to hand out the Quran at the "local level" in "good faith".
lol.. nice try.. lol
Sure -- but my wife and my cat are staring at me in the most peculiar way ;)
Or simply decided to move the giveaway from the school to the local church lawn, or set-up a stall on Main Street. It's not hard to avoid this sort of thing, people just get pig-headed about it.
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