TN: ACLU attacks Christian practices in schools
"Prohibiting the free exercise" of religion?
"A lawsuit has been filed against the Cheatham County School Board alleging that school officials have promoted their own religious beliefs and allowed and encouraged public prayers at school events.
Civil rights attorney George Barrett and the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit in federal court today on behalf of four students, listed under aliases. Two were students who graduated last year from Sycamore High School, one is a current student at Sycamore High School and another attends Cheatham Middle School.
The suit seeks an injunction against the schools to prevent them from continuing the activities mentioned in the suit, and nominal damages for the two students who have graduated.”
Among the allegations are that a planned prayer took place at graduation; that the Gideons International were allowed to speak to classes and distribute Bibles; that a cross hangs in a classroom; and that a history teacher taught that the United States is a “Christian nation” and decried the separation of church and state....
Attorney Allen Woods of Woods & Woods, which represents the school board, said they hadn’t yet examined all the allegations contained in the lawsuit but that there is no policy of religious behavior being tolerated or persecuted.
“We believe that all of Cheatham County’s policies are in accordance with the recommendations of the Tennessee School Board Association, and the court will find it legal and valid,” said. “The schools in question and all Cheatham County schools neither endorse any specific religion nor interfere with the religion of its students. That’s what the Constitution requires.”
Source
22 comments:
"The schools in question and all Cheatham County schools neither endorse any specific religion nor interfere with the religion of its students. That’s what the Constitution requires."
And that's the whole point! Providing information does not mean endorsement. If a Muslim wants to come in and talk about Islam, so be it. If a Jew wants to do the same, so be it.
The real issue here is that the Left is trying to rewrite history. It is a FACT that the United States was founded on Christianity. That is indisputable if you are willing to look at the evidence. The problem is that the Left won't look at the evidence.
hat is indisputable if you are willing to look at the evidence. The problem is that the Left won't look at the evidence.
It is convenient that you did not provide ANY evidence to support you outrageous claim.
"It is a FACT that the United States was founded on Christianity. That is indisputable if you are willing to look at the evidence. The problem is that the Left won't look at the evidence."
No it was not. Why do you think the establishment clause was put in the Constitution? They specifically wanted religion and government separate. They knew what happens when the government controls religious practices or if a dominant religion has too much influence on governance. Some of our forefathers were very religious and some were not. The Christian principles that are included in the Bill of Rights are simply those that follow the rule of law anyway. If it were not, then the start of the bill of rights would be say , “You shall have no other Gods before Me” rather than “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. Probably most people in the colonies were Christians, but then again so were the English who the Revolutionary War was fought against. So much for, “thou shall not kill.”
I think the school crossed the line by bringing the Gideons into school to distribute Bibles during normal class. If it were a class on comparative religion or if they were discussing religion in a historical context, then it would be understandable, but there is nothing in the story that backs that up. It was proselytizing, pure and simple, and should have been done outside of the classroom.
So David, you've decided the the Gideons are not allowed to distribute information on public property?
Great, then can I also decide that the ACLU is not allowed to distribute information on public property? It's a religious organization too, and it proselytizes its religion of atheism all the time.
Allow me to clarify the Establishment clause for you:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
It means that Congress shall not make a law that creates a state religion. Please explain how the schools in Cheatham county have made a law respecting an establishment of religion.
The Establishment Clause not say that the relgious discussion or mention of any time is to be banned from the public forum. It is a common mistake that liberals make when reading the Constitution...
Oh get real - the school was giving the Gideons a clear opportunity to proselytize!
There are three things that send the left into an automatic foaming frenzy, sort of like ringing that bell for that famous guys dogs. Mention the word GOD, or say abortion on demand is wrong and horror of horrors, mention the name Sarah Palin. Do any of those and they will get that deer in the headlights look, start trembling and drooling and the veins on their foreheads will bulge and the predictable canned responses begin.
How many conservatives take to change a lightbulb?
None. Change is evil and that's why they are always in the dark.
Anymouse 7:41:
How many leftist does it take to change a politically correct energy saving spiral light bulb?
Answer, none because that would be to much like work or they would just hold on to it and wait for the universe to revolve around their backside.
ok, Ed, that was funny! LOL
Ferndale Fanny
Ed,
Nice.
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Hey Anon 5:11 am
Regarding:
Oh get real - the school was giving the Gideons a clear opportunity to proselytize!
Please direct me to the section and paragraph of the Constitution that prohibits proselytizing one's religion. For reference from the dictionary:
proselytize
v.intr.
1. To induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith.
2. To induce someone to join one's own political party or to espouse one's doctrine.
v.tr.
To convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another.
Strange, I can't find any mention in that definition of ESTABLISHING a state religion.
Public schools funded by tax-payers of all or no religious belief should not be the place for proselytizing particular religions (with a captive audience). That should be done in a "faith school".
"Public schools funded by tax-payers of all or no religious belief should not be the place for proselytizing particular religions (with a captive audience)."
---What about showing Al Gore's propaganda film? Since enviromentalism is treated as a religion and anyone who doesn't follow their tenets as an infidel, then opposite views should be taught.
With that being said, this particular school went too far with the hanging of a cross in a classroom.
So "environmentalism" is now called a "religion" - yet another word that's lost its meaning as it seems any idealogy or view point can be called a "religion" or "religious".
Look annonymous, I'm not a great debator but perhaps Michael Critchon can convince you.
You can read the full article here
http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-environmentalismaseligion.html
Or see some quotes here:
I studied anthropology in college, and one of the things I learned was that certain human social structures always reappear. They can't be eliminated from society. One of those structures is religion. Today it is said we live in a secular society in which many people---the best people, the most enlightened people---do not believe in any religion. But I think that you cannot eliminate religion from the psyche of mankind. If you suppress it in one form, it merely re-emerges in another form. You can not believe in God, but you still have to believe in something that gives meaning to your life, and shapes your sense of the world. Such a belief is religious.
Today, one of the most powerful religions in the Western World is environmentalism. Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it's a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.
There's an initial Eden, a paradise, a state of grace and unity with nature, there's a fall from grace into a state of pollution as a result of eating from the tree of knowledge, and as a result of our actions there is a judgment day coming for us all. We are all energy sinners, doomed to die, unless we seek salvation, which is now called sustainability. Sustainability is salvation in the church of the environment. Just as organic food is its communion, that pesticide-free wafer that the right people with the right beliefs, imbibe.
Yes, you have weakened the original meaning of "religion" and "religious" to cover a wider range of opinion or view-point in order to accuse another group of hypocracy, but in so doing you are weakening the English language just as the PC'ers are doing.
"Yes, you have weakened the original meaning of "religion" and "religious" to cover a wider range of opinion or view-point in order to accuse another group of hypocracy, but in so doing you are weakening the English language just as the PC'ers are doing."
---Well, let's look at the dictionary:
Religion: a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
----Ok, the environazis have earth day and green week, not to mention people like Al Gore saying that "the debate is now over" when it comes to global warming, not to mention the belief that the universe was created by the Big Bang and that was can destroy our own planet. As for the moral code, we have the EPA and other tree-hugging (and sometimes eco-terrorist) groups trying to force us to live by their values. See, environmentalism is like radical Islam, but instead of suicide bombers you have people bombing Hummer dealership, animal research clinics, etc.
2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.
---Two words, "global warming," any scientist who doesn't believe in it has faced an "inquisition" from the politically correct scientific community, people have lost their jobs and faced threats since the open minded secular nazis do not tolerate "infidels" when it comes to secular humanist dogma.. So once again, environmentalism is a religion, an evil religion.
3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
---Or the United Nations which embodies all the politically correct secular notions we must live by, including gun control, opposition to the death penalty, distribution of the weath, global taxation, etc. Think about it, the UN is like Vatican City, except that they make policy for the entire world.
4. the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
---Google "freegan" and you'll discover modern day Sidhartas that don't buy anything (they make a living from picking the garbage because they think consumerism is bad). Want another example? Look at communes, are they that different from a monastery? It's religion devoted to the planet.
5. the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
---Earth Day, Green Week, and who knows how many others secular holidays and special events schools accross the country are creating.
6. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.
---So you see, enviromentalism IS a religion, but unlike God-based religions that are ridiculed by the media, environmentalism faces little public opposition even when they come up with crazy ideas like cap and trade.
Environmentalism is an evil religion, it is a green form of socialism where humans are curtailed and inconvenienced in order to "save" our planet or "mother nature," the secular version of the Virgin Mary.
So all organizations with members who are very committed to a cause with stated goals, and regular meetings, etc.,etc., can be called "religions" or "religious"? So that includes numereous ones including for instance the KKK and the Freemasons, or even the Boy Scout movement, or a dynamic campaign against a local problem. Well then the original idea of religion and religious is lost!!!
And many political parties could be called a religion by this extended definition.
The aclu can kiss my jEWISH ass. I graduated from a Catholic high school, I had no problems seeing a cross or hearing prayers every day. I had a Muslim friend who had the same beiefs as me on the subject. Seeing the symblos of another faith does not worry me or insult me, not even if there was a 100 foot crucifix on city hall, it would not bother me. And aclu, for ur info, there is nothing in the Constitution that says seperation of church and state, morons.
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