ChristiansUnite Forums

or so the headline would have you believe -

http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~2556644,00.html

So what do we have here ?  Promotion of religion or censorship ?  What do you think ?

Peace

Alnilam

The Maryland Public Schools system is adamant that ‘students may give thanks to anyone but, God’. Charles Ridgell said "We teach about Thanksgiving from a purely historical perspective, not from a religious perspective."

And California, (of course), is taking the "separation of church and state" one step further – dealing with whether it's unconstitutional to read the Declaration of Independence in public school.

Is this a backlash from the recent elections? Is the Left going to remove all references of God from history? Are we going to let them?

In a season typified by lawsuits against manger scenes, crosses and even the words "Merry Christmas," a California case is taking the "separation of church and state" one step further – dealing with whether it's unconstitutional to read the Declaration of Independence in public school.

Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit Monday against the Cupertino Union School District for prohibiting a teacher from providing supplemental handouts to students about American history because the historical documents contain some references to God and religion.

"Throwing aside all common sense, the district has chosen to censor men such as George Washington and documents like the Declaration of Independence," said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. "The district's actions conflict with American beliefs and are completely unconstitutional."

Patricia Vidmar, principal of the Stevens Creek School, reportedly ordered the teacher, Stephen Williams, to submit his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to her for advance approval. Aside from Williams, a Christian, no other teachers were subject to the advance-screening requirement, says the ADF.

Just what documents did Williams submit that were deemed unfit for the school's students?

"Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, the diaries of George Washington and John Adams, the writings of William Penn, and various state constitutions," said the public-interest law firm representing Willliams.

"Less than five percent of all of Mr. Williams" supplemental handouts distributed throughout the school year contain references to God and Christianity," McCaleb said. "The district is simply attempting to cleanse all references to the Christian religion from our nation's history, and they are singling out Mr. Williams for discriminatory treatment. Their actions are unacceptable under both California and federal law."

California's Education Code does allow "references to religion or references to or the use of religious literature … when such references or uses do not constitute instruction in religious principles … and when such references or uses are incidental to or illustrative of matters properly included in the course of study."

The case, Stephen J. Williams v. Cupertino Union School District, et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division.


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41623


Appears to be biased censorship.

I don't think the link I provided above worked as it should have.  :(

http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~2556644,00.html# (http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~2556644,00.html#)

I think that fixed it.  :)

The DoI has not been banned, what has been banned are "supplemental excerpts".  I can only wonder what these excerpts contained and how they were presented.  I found another article from Reuters :

http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6911883 (http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6911883)

What caught my eye were the words "true history" , and the statement discrimination was based on his being Christian.  Does this imply the school was teaching "false history" ?  I also had to wonder whether there are other Christian teachers and whether they are being descriminated against.  I hope not.  

My gut feeling right now is that Mr. Williams is going to lose this one.  If the handouts are found to be inappropriate for the classroom, his free speach has not been violated.

Peace

Alnilam

I almost forgot, the worldnetdaily article had this to say :

In a season typified by lawsuits against manger scenes, crosses and even the words "Merry Christmas,"

I have never heard of anyone being sued for saying "Merry Christmas".  Has anyone else ?

Peace

Alnilam  

If a person says "Merry Christmas"  or just "Christmas" it falls under free speech. So far this has not been ruled against by the courts. It was attacked to have those words displayed in/on public  places but I am not sure of the outcome on it.

There is a movement against the ACLU known as the ACLJ

"700 lawyers ready to fight ACLU lawsuits Legal group's 'Christmas Project' designed to protect public schools"

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=76551

http://www.aclj.org/Default.aspx