Sunday, July 21, 2013

ACLU Demands Bibles Off Kentucky School Grounds

The American Civil Liberties Union has threatened to sue every public school in Kentucky if organizations that distribute Bibles, such as Gideons International, are allowed on school property.  In response, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has written to the schools to inform them of the federal court rulings that allow the distribution of Bibles in public schools.
“Indeed, banning only religious community groups from distributing literature at public schools is clearly forbidden by the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.”
-- ADF letter to schools
What does the ACLU demand MUST be in the schools?  Teaching children homosexuality

For background, read Atheists: Short on Lawyers to Sue ALL Christians and also read Atheists Threaten to Sue Every School in Mississippi as well as ACLU Bullies Michigan School into Ban on Student Prayer

-- From "ACLU threatens schools over Gideon bibles" posted at Greeley Gazette 7/18/13

The Alliance Defending Freedom letter explains that “federal cases have consistently affirmed private citizens’ right to share religious literature at public school on equal terms with those distributing non-religious literature.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over Kentucky, has specifically agreed with other court decisions upholding “the Gideons’ ability to distribute literature to secondary school students on equal terms with secular groups.”

The 6th Circuit also made clear that the same rule applies to elementary students. Guidance provided by the Kentucky School Board Association similarly recognizes that schools cannot ban the distribution of literature simply because it is religious.

“The First Amendment does not allow religious speech to be singled out for discrimination,” added [ADF] Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “Kentucky schools should not allow the ACLU to brow beat them into a constitutional violation.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Adair Schools to answer ACLU questions" Columbia (Kentucky) Magazine 4/15/13

According to [Adair County School District] Superintendent Alan Reed, the ACLU has targeted all of the state's 174 school districts seeking information on how religious groups and other outside organizations distribute literature. The letter specifically mentions the distribution of Bibles by the Gideons International.

Reed says he received the letter last Monday and is working with Bowling Green, Kentucky attorney Michael Owsley, who represents the member schools of the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative, to respond to it.

"We plan to review all the state and board policies that pertain to the request and we will follow the Kentucky School Boards Association guidelines and recommendations from our legal staff on this," said Reed.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "ACLU Seeks to Ban Bible Distribution in Kentucky Schools" by Melissa Barnhart, Christian Post Reporter 4/8/13

The Gideons International faced similar challenges from the ACLU in Missouri and Tennessee, in which the ACLU claimed that Bible distribution to students in school classrooms and on campus grounds was "unconstitutional."

In Tennessee, the ACLU and school officials in White County, Tenn., settled on an agreement that would ban The Gideons International from entering fifth grade classrooms to distribute Bibles to students, but would allow the distribution of religious and secular materials as part of a forum. The forum, however, would ban the promotion of religious literature, and limit the organization's contact with students.

In Missouri, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District found in 2008 that "the practice of Bible distribution in the public school of a rural Missouri county was unconstitutional," according to the ACLU website. "The ACLU of Eastern Missouri filed suit against the South Iron School District in February 2006. The court had earlier entered a temporary injunction against Bible distribution, which was upheld by the Eight Circuit appellate court in August 2007."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Christian Legal Group Combats ACLU Attempt to End Bible Distribution in Kentucky Schools" by Heather Clark, Christian News Network 7/16/13

“Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said ADF staff counsel Rory Gray. “That’s why the schools frequently allow a wide array of groups to distribute literature of various sorts to students. Singling out the Gideons while allowing other groups to distribute literature would be clearly unconstitutional.”

. . . some note that the first textbook used in America even before its founding, The New England Primer, was largely focused on the Scriptures, and was brought to the nation by the Puritans. It used mostly the King James Bible as reference, and spoke much about sin, salvation and proper behavior.

“In Adam’s fall, we sinned all,” it read, in teaching children the alphabet, using Adam as an example of the letter A.

“Thy life to mend, this Book attend,” it continued for the letter B, referring to the Scriptures. “My Book and heart shall never part.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Because of the intimidation tactics of atheist lawyer organizations, state governments across America are educating its citizens on constitutional religious liberty by passing laws in Texas, and Louisiana, and North Carolina, and South Carolina, and Missouri, and Mississippi, and Florida, and Tennessee.

The root issue is American Religious Liberty vs. Anti-Christian Totalitarianism