ACLU accuses Louisiana school of religious harassment
Source: Associated Press
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a school board in Louisiana, alleging officials at one of its schools harassed a sixth-grader because of his Buddhist faith and that the district routinely pushes Christian beliefs.
The lawsuit was filed against the Sabine Parish School Board Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Shreveport on behalf of Scott and Sharon Lane and their three children. According to the complaint from the ACLU and its Louisiana chapter, the Lanes enrolled their son — a lifelong Buddhist of Thai descent — in Negreet High School and he quickly became the target of harassment by the school's staff.
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In addition to the school board, the lawsuit names as defendant Superintendent Sara Ebarb, Negreet High Principal Gene Wright and science teacher Rita Roark. An office worker who answered the phone at the district Wednesday said Ebarb was out of town and unavailable for comment. A message on an automated voice mail system for a home number listed for Ebarb in Shreveport wasn't immediately returned.
The lawsuit said Roark has "repeatedly taught students that the earth was created by God 6,000 years ago, that evolution is 'impossible' and that the Bible is '100 percent true.'
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=21630589&sid=81
= new reply since forum marked as read
If You Want To Fit In At This Public School Just Become Christian
By Scott Lane at 3:43pm
Like many people I have encountered who were raised in a Christian environment, I was indifferent to what I felt were minor infractions of the law that protects the separation of church and state. What's the big deal if teachers promote God in public schools? I didn't see any danger in official prayer during graduation or a football game, or in a science teacher mentioning her religious beliefs when discussing evolution. These were things that had happened when I was in school, and my experience was just fine. Even after I stopped being an active Christian, I didn't understand how any of this could be considered discrimination, as some people claimed. Didn't the Bible teach us to obey rules, and wouldn't that be a positive lesson for our children? Of course, I didn't realize the hypocrisy of breaking the law in order to teach children to obey rules.
But then, when my stepson, who has been raised a Buddhist, enrolled in the sixth grade at our local school, Negreet High, it became personal, and I could no longer turn a blind eye to the very real harms that occur when school officials violate the separation of church and state.
My stepson started at Negreet in the same class as one of my children. By the end of the first week of school, he was having serious stomach issues and anxiety. We couldn't figure out why. In the mornings, my wife would pull over on the side of the road as they approached school so he could throw up. At first, we thought he was sick and we let him stay home. Soon it became apparent that this was not a cold, but something much worse. Our children informed us that their teacher had been chastising and bullying my stepson for his Buddhist beliefs.
- read the rest at the link above
It sounds like the entire school system there is evil. I would probably be burned at the stake during an assembly if I were a student there.
I can hear it now - "Quick! He's a Pagan...He says that he feels like a wolf in a human body, and the worst of it is that he believes in evolution and science!"
This would be followed by: "We must take him to the local pool/marsh/river (whatever water they have there). Bring the official duck! We must conduct the Duck Test!"
