Posted on 05/23/2015 4:46:35 AM PDT by Kaslin
Mackenzie Fraiser is 12-years-old. She’s a sixth grader at Somerset Academy, a charter school in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Mackenzie is also a Christian.
In February, she was instructed by her technology teacher to create a PowerPoint demonstration about her life. One of the requirements was to include a slide with an inspirational message.
So Mackenzie decided to use a Bible verse – specifically John 3:16. That familiar passage reads: “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
But the teacher had a problem with Mackenzie’s inspirational message. She explained to the class that none of the students would be allowed to use any Bible verses or quotations from the Book of Mormon.
The teacher had a problem with Mackenzie’s inspirational message. She explained to the class that none of the students would be allowed to use any Bible verses or quotations from the Book of Mormon. The message was clear – you cannot be inspired by religion.
The message was clear – you cannot be inspired by religion.
Mackenzie, whose father is a pastor, told me she was terribly disappointed and concerned.
“When I was told I couldn’t use a Bible verse, I was afraid I was doing something wrong,” she said.
So Mackenzie obeyed the teacher’s edict and settled for a mundane secular saying.
A few months later, the little girl received another assignment. This time, she was told to address the topic of self-esteem.
She discussed the assignment with her parents, Tim and Kate Fraiser. They suggested she acknowledge she derives her self-esteem from having been made in the image of God.
It was at that point, Mackenzie said she would not be allowed to mention the Almighty. Her teacher had once again barred any reference to faith in the technology classroom.
Tim thought his daughter must have been mistaken. Perhaps she misunderstood the teacher’s directive? So he fired off an email to the school seeking clarification.
The message he received was jaw dropping. The school confirmed that that teacher told students to refrain from using religious references. They said she was simply following “school law expectations.”
“The U.S. Department of Education states that students have the right to engage in voluntary prayer or religious discussion free from discrimination, but that does not include the right to have a captive audience listen or compel other students to participate,” read the email from Assistant Principal Jenyan Martinez.
“When Mackenzie created the project with the expectation she would present the Biblical saying to the class, the matter became one of having a captive audience that would be subject to her religious beliefs,” she added. “Had the assignment been designed to simply hand in for a grade, this would not have been an issue.”
The Fraisers contacted Liberty Institute, a religious liberty law firm that specializes in these sorts of legal disputes.
“Government officials telling little girls they can’t mention God is not the law,” said Liberty Institute President Kelly Shackelford. “It’s unlawful discrimination and it’s morally wrong.”
Liberty Institute attorney Jeremy Dys is representing the family. He said the U.S. Department of Education clearly permits students to use Bible verses in class assignments.
“If a school official tells students that their beliefs cannot be expressed in class assignments, it teaches them that religion is bad,” Dys told me. “This case really demonstrates why it is important to protect religious liberty."
They’ve given the school 10 days to remedy the situation – and that includes an apology and a promise not to censor religious content in assignments.
So here's what needs to happen. Somerset Academy needs to follow the law. They need to allow Mackenzie to redo her assignment with the Bible verses. And they need to apologize. If they fail to do so, the federal government should revoke their funding.
A few weeks ago the Department of Education threatened to withhold funding for any public school that did not protect the rights of transgender students. I believe schools should be held to the same standard for religious students.
My guess?
The parents are foolishly enlisting a child as a warrior in the culture wars.
Christ didn't use kids as missionaries. Parents shouldn't either. Missionary work is a grown-up job for big boys and girls.
Gee! It is a shame. Homeschooling is the best and most natural way to rear a child to successful adulthood. You right, though, not everyone can homeschool or private school ( a second best option).
Some children will need to be institutionalized for their schooling. We need orphanages, too, but no one is claim that this is the best way to rear a child.
suppurates = SUPPORTS
Some kids will need to be institutionalized for their schooling. A shame, but true.
suppurates = SUPPORTS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sitting here chuckling! :-)
Suppurates is a perfectly good word to apply to government schooling!
The Liberty Institute May 20, 2015, letter to Somerset Acadrmy officials discusses the student's First Amendment rights. The letter also includes the "demand that, within ten (10) days of this letter, Somerset Academy issue a written apology to Mackenzie Fraiser and permit her to re-submit her original presentation, inclusive of the expression of her religious beliefs. Absent such written apology and assurance that students in Somerset Academy may express their religious beliefs in their school assignments, our client is prepared to take legal action against Somerset Academy, seeking all appropriate and available relief in order to preserve Mackenzie’s constitutional and statutory rights under federal and Nevada law."
According to a May 22 FoxNews report: UPDATE: Somerset Academy issued a formal written apology to 12-year-old Mackenzie Fraiser late Friday for denying her the right to use a Bible verse in a class assignment. School officials have now agreed to allow the sixth-grader to resubmit her original project, this time with her favorite Bible verse -- John 3:16 -- included."
"Re [Student]'s slide dealing with Scriptural inspiration:
STET! Otherwise, we will all meet in court -- with each of you, personally, named as defendants."
Most people who profess to be unqualified simply think they have more important things to do than raise their children. Children are a pain in the butt anyway- it's nice to be able to get rid of them for the day. And there is after school day care and before school care and 3k and everything. You don't even have to feed them any more. The state takes care of that.
Yes, your lifestyle might decrease, a bit... you might have to give up that new Mercedes every year, but it us worth it. Even you, as the parent, can learn from it.
That was a good one! :-)
That is bovine excrement!! You must be a public school administrator.
ExCTCitizen, if you really are a Christian, you do not judge other Christians for doing the best they can in the situation life has handed them.
Being able to homeschool is a blessing, not a litmus test for being a Christian.
Wrong? I could have never home schooled my children. I was never able to help them with their home work, as I was educated in Germany which has a different system. For example pencils are only allowed for drawing and loose papers are not allowed at all. Each subject has to be in a separate Notebook. When homework is given it has to be done at home, and the teacher goes through it the next morning or the following Monday depending if he or she assigns the homework during the week or the weekend. Homework is not for finishing work at home that should be finished during school hours.
Though the cross is perhaps what upsets them the most, other Christian religious symbols also have some effect, like The Holy Bible, and even Holy Water. Which leads to a funny anecdote you might enjoy.
A long time ago I paid a visit to a very old Catholic church on an Indian reservation, still used as a Catholic elementary school and church, and they also have a nice gift shop for tourists, of which they get many. And one of the items there were empty small plastic bottles labeled Holy Water. They had a stainless steel tank with Holy Water in it that could be used to fill the bottles, but I left mine empty.
Weeks later, I was making some habanero pepper picante, and had about an extra half cup of habanero juice. Not having a small, well sealed bottle on hand, I put it in the Holy Water bottle, with the idea of providing some of my hot pepper aficionado friends a sample of what my extremely hot picante would taste like, when I met them later at a coffee shop.
That evening, at the coffee shop, I saw a group of unhappy, Gothic dressed children, all wearing black of course. Their leader, an older boy, professed to be a Satanist and wannabee vampire. He was a rotter, and he was leading the others astray. I didn’t care for him at all.
In any event, we got to talking, and the older boy’s bragging and pretense of menace finally annoyed me enough to ask if he was repelled by symbols of Christianity.
This set him off, saying he was such powerful “eevil” that he was impervious to such things. So I pulled out the bottle of “Holy Water”, showing the label to him and his little friends. So, it wouldn’t hurt you if I sprinkled this on you? Of course not!, he proclaimed.
So I gave him some good splashes, trying to avoid his eyes, being a nice guy.
He immediately went into a Jekyll and Hyde routine, as if the Holy Water was burning him. Then he stopped and regained his composure, and said, see, it has no power over me!
And then the habanero juice kicked in.
After a far more realistic performance of great pain and confusion, he ran off screaming into the night, while his surprised little friends started reevaluating their relationship with him.
I don’t even know anyone who drives a Mercedes, let alone a new one every year. This must be an issue in a better class of people than those who reside in our town.
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