The Religious Right's New Tactics for Invading Public Schools

[babylonsister]

The Religious Right's New Tactics for Invading Public Schools

By Rob Boston, Church and State. Posted October 4, 2007.


As the school year gets under way, public schools around the nation are under siege from Religious Right pressure groups determined to turn them into instruments of evangelism.

In mid-August, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed something called the "Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act" into law. Although the new law has an innocuous-sounding title, it's really a ticking time-bomb, opponents say.

The law requires every public school in the state to adopt a policy guaranteeing students' right to religious expression. It mandates that schools create "limited public forums" for religious and other types of speech. A student could, for example, read the morning announcements over a loudspeaker and then lapse into a prayer or mini-sermon.

Many people think the law is yet another effort to get around the Supreme Court's rulings on separation of church and state in public schools -- and they're expecting a torrent of litigation to result.

"This law is fundamentally at odds with the principle of religious freedom," said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based group that opposes the machinations of the Religious Right. "It will force public school students to participate in public events that promote religious views -- through prayer or even proselytizing -- that they and their families may not share or may even find deeply offensive. So rather than protecting religious freedom, this law represents a grave threat to it.

"Rather than providing schools with training and appropriate guidelines for protecting First Amendment freedoms," Miller said, "legislators decided to play politics with our children's faith. So now they have recklessly put local schools and their taxpayers at risk of expensive lawsuits."

more...

http://alternet.org/rights/64211/

[Mythsaje]

1. Bring in the wiccans...

That'll get the evangelicals up in arms about this new development in a heartbeat.

[kestrel91316]

2. Nah. Too tame. Bring in the SATANISTS.

[NMMNG]

3. Indeed

The RRR always assumes when they get some law like this bullied through that it will only be their religion that is expressed, but the best thing to do is beat them at their own game. Get kids to start expressing all forms of religion from Islam to Wicca to Satanism. Those fundies will do a 180 before you know it.

[Mojambo]

4. And the Flying Spaghetti Monster...

I hope free thinking students take the opportunity to really hammer this ridiculous program.

[renie408]

5. They have a Prayer Wall at my son's school

Kids tape the names of people, pets, etc, that they want to be prayed for and tape it to the wall. Because it isn't LABELED "Prayer Wall", the principal says it doesn't violate the interests of the separation of church and state (this is the same principal who has bible verses scrolling across her computer as a screen saver. Somehow I don't think she is unbiased.)

So my son got a big piece of construction paper and cut it in half. On one half he wrote, "The Constitution" and on the other he wrote "The Bill of Rights". Then he taped them to the wall.

[babylonsister]

6. Great story-thank you! Props to your son!

:thumbsup:

[bulldogge]

7. That is

the best news I have read all day! You're son is a good man.

[Maat]

8. Proud monthly donor to A.U. here.

Rob Boston is a writer for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. If you join, you get "Church and State" magazine monthly. It is a very good read. Believe or not, I'm a believer (HeeHee). A.U. is comprised of nonbelievers and believers who unite to counter the RRR (Radical Religious Right). We get along just fine, united in our dedication to our mission.

Please visit www.au.org - you'll be glad you did.