Thursday, February 7, 2008
Monday night’s open school board forum on the dispute over the Gideons’ request to put Bibles in Columbus County fifth-grade classrooms shed light in a number of areas, but it also revealed that the waters are indeed untested and murky.
The county school board is in an untenable position, likely to be sued either way it chooses.
That’s bad news for Columbus County schoolchildren, who need the full attention and focus of school leaders to improve education in conditions that are difficult enough already.
We suggest that all sides contemplate practical solutions. Given time, things could be resolved without a court fight.
The first logical step would be to give the North Carolina School Board Association time to develop a model that all school boards could adopt and be in compliance with federal case law.
The “Practical Solution of the Night” award goes to the Baptist preacher who suggested that the sons and daughters of Christian families give Bibles to classmates who want them. It is allowed, and nobody will wind up in court.
The preacher’s oration could offer a silver lining to the entire affair.
What if the faith-based community took this opportunity to muster forces and really get involved in the schools? The school board has already said that it welcomes – and even encourages – churches and church members to volunteer in the schools.
Could the same group that met Monday night set a goal of doubling the number of the faith-based community who currently volunteer helping students learn to read, or by providing a strong, moral shoulder for vulnerable children to lean on?
If just one-tenth of the 6,700 people who signed the Gideon petition agreed to volunteer in the schools, what a blessing that would be for so many students.
That’s the hard work the faith-based community should be doing.
Our schools don’t need a court fight. What they need are practical solutions from practical people willing to roll up their sleeves and make a difference in the lives of our young people.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
It is true that students have a constitutional right to carry the Bible to school, to read the Bible during non-instructional times, and even to share a copy of the Bible with their classmates. Teachers, administrators, and other school staff are not allowed to do so in that they are considered “agents of the State,” and may violate the Establishment Clause by offering the Bible to students.
The fact of the matter is that the Gideons and other religious groups (even non-Christian ones) also have a constitutional right to distribute their literature through the public schools if the schools have a policy (or, in the absence of a policy, a routine practice) of allowing non-religious groups to distribute materials through the schools.
This is not an either/or proposition - students have the right and so do the Gideons.
It seems a bit hypocritical for the school board and staff to deny the Gideons (and presumably other religious groups) the right to passively distribute their literature in the schools while at the same time advocating for “churches and church members to volunteer in the schools.” Wonder what the ACLU would think of that?
southernmic Says:
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 am
You have made so many valid points. I agree with them all. Might I make a point as well. With all the “resentment” the Gideons and their passing out of bibles to our public schools are receiving from the school administration, no one person within the school board has addressed the unfairness of allowing books involving witchcraft. There are books in every single library at every campus within the Whiteville City Schools. Is the school board advocating witchcraft and not any other religious beliefs? If my first grader wants to learn about witches and spells, although the books are easy reading materials, they still outline a very serious belief that is in absolute opposition with believers of God and the doctrines associated within each denomonation; all bound in colorful and inticing colors and illustrations. Perfect examples for luring children into something greater and more condusive with “anti-Christian” beliefs. Even a slight fundamentalist would take this to be a direct hostile attack at the the seriousness of the “Gideons Outreach” to souls all throughout the world. I am certainly not able to quote the numbers of souls the Gideons have reached, as I am sure that there are in fact quotable numbers and statistics that can suggest and prove their outreach programs’ success, but I have seen dramatic results. That is certainly enough for me to make a descestionary judgement and belief. For the record, Harry Potter has the most books in a series on any one subject; in this case witchcraft and all its’ ways, located in all of the Whiteville City Schools. But no bibles are allowed for the student to chose from or to check out should that child so wish.