MORONS!!!!!!
Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.
Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.
"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.
"Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."
Vidmar could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose and claims violations of Williams rights to free speech under the First Amendment.
Phyllis Vogel, assistant superintendent for Cupertino Unified School District, said the lawsuit had been forwarded to a staff attorney. She declined to comment further.
Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.
Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."
"He hands out a lot of material and perhaps 5 to 10 percent refers to God and Christianity because that's what the founders wrote," said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. "The principal seems to be systematically censoring material that refers to Christianity and it is pure discrimination."
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a California atheist who wanted the words "under God" struck from the Pledge of Allegiance as recited by school children. The appeals court in California had found that the phrase amounted to a violation of church and state separation.
source
MORONS!!!!!!
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">claims, asserts, says, yada, yada, yada [img]smile.gif[/img]Originally posted by travelinman:
. . . claiming he had been singled out . . .
. . . claims violations of Williams rights to free speech under the First Amendment.
Williams asserts in the lawsuit . . .
. . . according to Williams, . . .
. . .said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. . . .
So who is this Alliance Defense Fund:
According to People for the American Way:
Alliance Defense Fund
15333 N. Pima Road, Suite 165
Scottsdale AZ 85260
Phone: 1-800-TELL-ADF
www.alliancedefensefund.org
ADF?s Founders:
Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ
Larry Burkett, founder of Christian Financial Concepts
Rev. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family
Rev. D. James Kennedy, founder of Coral Ridge Ministries
Marlin Maddoux, President of International Christian Media
Don Wildmon, founder of American Family Association
(And 25+ other ministries)
President and General Counsel: Alan Sears
Date of founding: 1994
Finances: $15,411,093 (2001 budget)
Alliance Defense Fund?s Principal Issues:
ADF is a Christian legal firm established by more than 30 Christian ministries to help defend ?family values? and work against the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).
ADF defines itself by its ability to strategize and coordinate with lawyers all over the United States. Lawyers who sign up for their ?Blackstone Legal Institute? are expected to donate 450 pro bono hours over a three year period.
ADF has coordinated over 400 lawyers, over 125 right-wing organizations, and many conservative ministries on behalf of ADF-defined Christian legal issues.
ADF has been involved with 16 ?victories? before the Supreme Court, including such high profile cases as Boy Scouts of America v. Dale and Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network. ADF has had success in anti-gay cases all over the US, from Alaska to Massachusetts.
ADF has linked over 125 groups to create a combined effort to fight issues and on behalf of their views. ADF has brought together attorneys and allied legal groups to help develop a national strategy on controversial social issues, for example it has worked to develop a national strategy to ?protect marriage? across the United States after Vermont's decision to legalize civil unions for gays and lesbians.
In addition to organizing lawyers and ministries, ADF also trains and recruits and provides grants to support legal cases as well as pro-bono assistance.
ADF also defends the right of Christians to ?share the gospel? in workplaces and public schools, claiming that any efforts to curb proselytizing at work and school are anti-Christian.
Alliance Defense Fund?s Background:
Unique to ADF is their collective of high-power founders, including wealthy right-wing organizations such as Dobson?s Focus on the Family and D. James Kennedy?s Coral Ridge Ministries.
The ADF embodies the beliefs of its founders, harnessing the efforts of a cadre of right-wing groups that have hundreds of million dollars at their disposal. All of these groups are influential members of the Right, they are pro-life and anti-gay and their ultimate goal is to see the law and government of the US enshrined with conservative Christian principles.
The relationship between ADF and it?s founders is one of mutual self-interest, the ADF has access to the resources and networking of these large organizations, meanwhile the large organizations have an endless supply of lawyers at their command.
ADF?s strength goes beyond their budget, and extends much further due to their influence with well-funded religious-right groups.
Two issues that all of the founders have in common is their work against the right to abortion and gays and lesbians. They are particularly tireless in attacking any and every attempt by gays and lesbians to have families, domestic partnership or civil unions, or be protected from discrimination in employment or housing.
Alan Sears? Background:
Alan Sears was the Executive Director of the Attorney General?s Commission on Pornography under President Ronald Reagan. Sears was also a federal prosecutor for former Secretary of Interior Don Hodel (Hodel is a former Christian Coalition President).
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=4457
Besides, hasn't everyone just about had it up to here with these christian whiners demanding special rights? Who do they think they are anyway trying to impose thier mythology on good agnostic americans? Hell, if they don't like it here let 'em found thier own damn country.
<font color="#a52a2a" size="1">[ November 26, 2004 07:55 PM: Message edited by: Pi?a ]</font>
Sarcasm? And there I was thinking I was playing it straight.
I'm tired of all those glassy eyed "god loves me not you" types pushing there beliefs on me. This country was founded on our inalienable rights to certain freedoms. One of them was freedom of religion. I don't give a rats ass, by the way, what particular religion most of the founding "fathers" held to. They wanted us to have the freedom for each to worship as they saw fit without interference from the government or each other.
I am an agnostic and that is as valid a belief system as any christian, muslim, druid or jelly doughnut worshiping religion and I am sick and tired of having thier stupid superstitions forced on me.
I mean have you really looked at some of the out and out wierd crap that the catholics are into? (I chose catholics as it was the religion that I was indoctrinated into so it's the one I'm most familiar with)
I mean if you want to dress your top dog in big funny hats, robes and scepter, have weekly get togethers to eat and drink your god wafers and heavenly hemoglobin, hell, have at it. But don't expect me to live by tenets of a religion apparently based on the sillier I look and act the closer my god to thee. Or to put up with those beliefs being used as the basis for the laws of the land. Or to have teachers using the classroom as a heavenly pulpit to spread the "good" word of god jr.
Ok, but according to the article, this teacher wasn't "spreading the word", he was simply wanting to pass out copies of the Document that founded this country. While the founding fathers were smart enough to not declare an 'official' religion for the country, they still put liberal helpings of God and their christian beliefs throughout documents like the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, etc, etc, etc. Just b/c someone uses the dreaded "G-word" does not mean they are endorsing a particular religion or trying to jam their beliefs down your throat. If that were the case then there would be one National Religion, with all the others actively being snuffed out. In fact, here is the first Amendment, in its entirety, for ya.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Show me in there where it says you can't say the word god to people when you are talking about something other than religion.
IMO, what this teacher was doing is ok. He wasn't endorsing a religion, he was talking about our country, how it was founded and the men who founded it. It is the prinicipal who is wrong here. What are supposed to do, go back and rewrite the Declaration of Independence and Constitution so no ones feelings are hurt?
The article only reports on what the teacher, and his bible toting lawyers, have to say on the matter. The school is declining to comment.
So what you have is one side of the issue and I think it likely that it's more than a little biased and intentionally sensationalized to promote just the sort of reaction you had to it.
I think it likely that the teacher in question is trying to promote his own religious beliefs by skewing his presentations of other materials to make them conform to and support his own particular beliefs rather than presenting all sides from a religiously neutral position.
The comment by his lawyer that "It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," suggests to me that he was focussing more on the fact that most of the founders were christian and included references to thier god in the declaration of independence, and other documents, to support the argument that this is a "christian" nation. An argument trotted our on a regular basis by the religious right to support all sorts of prejudicial behavior and legislation.
But it's all just guessing on your and my part until more information is available.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">True. Very true. Guess we'll just have to wait and continue this discussion if and when more information is made available.Originally posted by Pi?a:
But it's all just guessing on your and my part until more information is available.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hey, look, Sarcasm from Pina. Who knew?Originally posted by Pi?a:
Besides, hasn't everyone just about had it up to here with these christian whiners demanding special rights? Who do they think they are anyway trying to impose thier mythology on good agnostic americans? Hell, if they don't like it here let 'em found thier own damn country.
<font color="#a52a2a"><font size="1">[ November 26, 2004 07:55 PM: Message edited by: Pi?a ]</font></font>
I'm not a religious person. That has been noted time and time again, but I'm not going to ask someone to change the writing of the founding documents of this country or the pledge of allegence just because of my beleifs.
Are you going to stop using our money too?
It says "In God We Trust" on our currency.
If you dont wanna say the under god part, then dont say it.
But if he's just handing out documents that say it just for historical purposes and not to enforce religion uipon someone, then what is the big deal?
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