After Rechoboth Baptist Church pastor Alan Stewart was invited to speak at the 9/11 memorial service at Sale Creek Middle-High School in Hamilton County, Tennessee, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened the Hamilton County Board of Education over "separation of church and state" and said that Christian pastors have no business speaking within a public school.
It appears that Hamilton County is in the cross-hairs of the Wisconsin atheist lawyers (click headlines below for previous incidents):
Appeals Court Refuses Atheists' Demands to Stop Prayer at Hamilton County Commission
Atheists Pay Kid to Play Victim re: Prayer Lawsuit vs. Hamilton County
Atheists' Prayer Ban Increases Prayer at Hamilton County School
Hamilton County Churches to Teach Bible in 20 Public Schools
For background, read Atheists Threaten to Sue Every School in Mississippi but admit they're Short on Lawyers to Sue ALL Christians
UPDATE 10/14/13: 'Creepy' Pastors Banned from Washington School
-- From "Local pastor, school system under fire for 9/11 speech" by Antwan Harris, Reporter, WRCB-TV3 (Chattanooga, TN) 10/8/13
In the transcript of [Stewart's] 7-minute speech he mentions one bible verse and the word "God" six times.
The [atheist] foundation's lawyer, Andrew Seidel, wrote in the letter [to the school] that there were numerous quotations from the bible.
The letter went on to say having Stewart there was "divisive and isolating."
Stewart says, "I could have talked about the tragedy that day. I could have talked about the terror it sent through the world that day but wanted to focus on the triumphs. Some good things happened that day."
"In the last 20 years of my life I have watched the voice of respect of the church diminish," says Stewart
After the letter, the school system says it has retrained educators about keeping those separate.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Local Pastor Defends His 9/11 Speech That Referenced God" by James Mahon, WDEF-TV12 (Chattanooga, TN) 10/8/13
Pastor Alan Stewart admits he mentioned god when giving a speech at Sale Creek High during a 9/11 Memorial service.
"Because it was a day in American History that our people came together and prayed across the land, they prayed not only in churches, they prayed in the market place, street corners and civil governments"
Attorney Andrew Seidel,"Essentially preaching a sermon to the children you know he quoted Luke 13:4 and the power of prayer, Jesus's response to 9/11, there's not much grey area here there's clearly a religious message and it's at a school sponsored event, therefore unconstitutional."
Stewart says he focused on the historical significance of the day more so than faith.
The event was also optional for students of Sale Creek Middle and High Schools.
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
