There is a troubling case out of Sabine Parish, Louisiana which, according to a Buddhist family, acted more like a real parish than a public school district. A Buddhist family sued Sabine Parish School Board for violating their right to religious freedom with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. If the allegations are true, the district is engaging in astonishing levels of entanglement with religion in one of the most extreme violations of constitutional law in decades.
The lawsuit describes hallways with “[p]aintings of Jesus Christ, Bible verses, and Christian devotional phrases adorn the walls of many classrooms and hallways . . . A lighted, electronic marquee placed just outside the building scrolls Bible verses every day . . . . . . several posters urging students to “Pray,” “Worship,” and “Believe,” while a poster displayed near the waiting area of the main office announces that “[i]t’s okay to pray.”
The ACLU says that staff members “routinely lead students in Christian prayer” and teachers have been known to distribute religious literature like the bible readings contained in Truth for Youth” literature which denounce evolution, birth control and other evil influences in society. The lawsuit also alleges that Sabine Parish superintendent Sara Ebarb asked the family about whether they could “change” their boy’s religious beliefs and whether it might the better to enroll in a school some 25 miles down the road where “there are more Asians.”
The ACLU filing highlights the alleged conduct of social studies teacher and Defendant Rita
Roark:
Roark also routinely requires students to provide written professions of faith on science exams and other tests and assignments. Verif. Compl. ¶ 30. The required religious professions have typically consisted of fill-in-the-blank Bible verses or religious affirmations as test questions. Id. On one occasion, the final question on an exam presented students with the following fill-in-the-blank question: “ISN’T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____________ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Having been raised a Buddhist, C.C. did not know the expected answer and left the question blank. Id. ¶ 32. Roark marked it incorrect, wrote “LORD” in the blank in red ink, and returned the test to C.C. Id., Ex. A. She also scolded C.C., with the entire class listening, for not writing in the correct answer. Id. C.C.’s sister, who is also in Roark’s class, jumped to her brother’s defense, explaining that C.C. is a Buddhist and does not believe in God. Id. Roark returned to her desk, at which point a student remarked that “you’re stupid if you don’t believe in
God.” Roark looked up and shook her head “yes” in affirmation of the student’s remark. Id.
Roark is accused of making fun of the answer again in front of the class and agreeing with another student calling the failure to believe in God to be “stupid.”
The family alleges that when they complained about such incidents that they were told that they live “in the Bible Belt.”
The lawsuit gives other incredible details and returns to the conduct of Roark:
Roark continues to promote her religious beliefs to her students, including C.C.’s sister, during science class and at other times. Id. ¶ 43. In recent months, she has repeatedly instructed students that evolution is not valid as a scientific theory and that God made the world 6,000 years ago. Id. ¶ 44. She demands that students write either a Bible verse or “Isn’t it amazing what the Lord has made” at the bottom of exams if they want extra credit. Id. ¶ 45. Roark writes “Yes!” next to the verse or religious affirmation and awards students five additional points when they comply with this mandate. Id. In addition, in social studies class, Roark presents Biblical accounts of persons, places, and events as fact. Id. ¶ 46. For example, on a handout asking, “What mountain did Moses supposedly get the Ten Commandments from,” Roark crossed out the word “supposedly.” Id. She also has told students that the Bible is “100% true” and that “scientists are slowly finding out that everything in the Bible is accurate.” Id.
The school district has responded by “”The Sabine Parish School Board has only recently been made aware of the lawsuit filed by the ACLU. A lawsuit only represents one side’s allegations, and the board is disappointed that the ACLU chose to file suit without even contacting it regarding the facts.” That is pretty tepid. Given some of these allegations, I would have preferred an immediate statement saying “of course these are ridiculous allegations. We are not a school district in Bora Bora. Geez.”
If even a fraction of these allegations are true, the district is looking at major liability in this litigation. While the district says it would have liked more time, these are open and egregious violations. This may be “the Bible belt” as the parents were allegedly informed, but it is also part of the United States and subject to basic constitutional limitations under the First Amendment.
You can get the documents from the ACLU at this site.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/education/scholarship-funds-meant-for-needy-benefit-private-schools.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Lot of it goes to religious schools.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/01/21/texas_charter_schools_curriculum_teaches_creationism.html Texas is spending a lot of money these days to violate the constitution.
And here’s what’s happening at one public university:
Huddling With Jesus?: UConn Football Coach Says Players Must Accept Christ To Succeed
Jan 17, 2014 by Simon Brown in Wall of Separation
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/huddling-with-jesus-uconn-football-coach-says-players-must-accept-christ-to
Excerpt:
A position coach for the University of Connecticut’s football team said he intends to add a new “superstar” recruit to the Huskies’ squad: Jesus Christ.
UConn, which is a public institution, recently hired Ernest T. Jones to serve as the team’s running backs coach and also as its director of “player engagement.” Since nobody would know what “player engagement” means without an explanation, Jones was kind enough to clarify.
“We develop [the players] socially, intellectually, spiritually, physically,” Jones said in a recent radio interview. “That’s what we’re going to do for these young people and [UConn Head] Coach [Bob] Diaco has allowed me to oversee the social and spiritual part of the development. I mean, this is big. This is a big part of our program.”
Spiritual development? That sounds problematic at a public institution. Worse, it turns out that Jones has a very specific type of spiritual development in mind – not to mention that he doesn’t seem to understand what the word “non-denominational” means.
“And we’re going to do things in our building, fellowship, non-denominational type things, players, coaches,” Jones said. “We’re going to make sure they understand that Jesus Christ should be in the center of our huddle, that that’s something that is important. If you want to be successful and you want to win, get championships, then you better understand that this didn’t happen because of you. This happened because of our Lord and Savior. That’s going to be something said by Bob Diaco. That’s something that’s going to be said by Ernest Jones. That’s who we are.”
nick, I feel sorry for the people in red states. They can’t gay marry, many can’t vote due to changes in voter id laws, their access to healthcare is limited unless that have very good insurance, their kids are taught creationism in public schools and let’s not even mention women’s reproductive freedom. Just look at the case in Fort Worth, Texas.
The way blue staters disparage red staters, and vice versa, is tiring unproductive, and quite lame.
States Of Prayer: Legislators In Three States Push Bills To Promote Religion In Public Schools
Jan 22, 2014
by Sarah Jones in Wall of Separation
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/states-of-prayer-legislators-in-three-states-push-bills-to-promote-religion
Excerpt:
The Supreme Court made it clear decades ago that our public schools aren’t meant to be places for spreading religion. But for legislators in three states, court rulings are no deterrent to their dogmatic agendas.
Lawmakers in South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee are debating bills that are designed, supporters say, to “put prayer back in schools.” The tactics vary, but in each case the desired outcome is the same: a potentially unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. And the legislators behind the bills aren’t shy about their motivations.
In a proposal to designate the first Sunday of August as “Prayer Walking Day” for public schools, Tennessee State Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City) credited America’s Christian majority as justification for the bill, and added a dose of theology in its text.
On the plus side, those in the “bible belt” of the mind are not being replaced in near sufficient numbers when they keel over and stop making that awful sound.
Off topic–but on the subject of public schools and religion:
‘School Choice Week’: A Dose Of Facts Debunks Voucher Propaganda
https://www.au.org/voucherFAIL
Excerpt;
Advocates of taxpayer funding for private schools have dubbed Jan. 26-Feb. 1 “National School Choice Week.” The event is designed primarily to mislead the public and drum up support for vouchers, tax credits and other forms of taxpayer aid to religious and other private schools.
The forces behind vouchers are varied. Some are lobbyists for the Catholic hierarchy who want a taxpayer bailout to save their financially ailing parochial school system. Some are fundamentalist Christians who claim public education is “godless” and want taxpayers to prop up private academies that teach creationism, anti-gay bias, faulty “Christian nation” history, anti-woman theology and other offensive concepts. Still others are radical anti-government groups that don’t like public education and want to see it privatized so corporations can move in and run schools on the cheap for the sake of a quick profit. Others despise teachers’ unions.
As probably one of the most corrupt states…. They will hide behind religion to make it all ok…. I hope the ACLU wins….
I’m always struck with how weak those who cram down their religion truly are. If your religion has something to offer, then it will speak for itself. There is no need to demand obedience from followers let alone, non-followers.
If your religion needs all that shoring up, then it isn’t worth much.
All religions, (political religions included) seem to need to indoctrinate youth. I believe this is because they understand how flimsy they truly are. They cannot afford to have thinkers around, because that will allow people to see them as they are–control freaks. It is thus necessary to indoctrinate young people before they get a chance to learn other ways of thinking. It is also necessary to get rid of adults who question. Religions and political religions are very good at doing both. The result is always the same.
We’re talking about Louisiana, folks. Remember this?:
Louisiana Supreme Court rules school voucher funding unconstitutional
By Valerie Strauss
May 7, 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/07/louisiana-supreme-court-rules-school-voucher-funding-unconstitutional/
Excerpt:
The Supreme Court of Louisiana ruled 6 to 1 on Tuesday that the way the state funds its school voucher program is unconstitutional and that public money now being used to pay private and religious school tuition should instead be going to public schools…
The Louisiana ruling, which you can see here at nola.com, hit at Gov. Bobby Jindal’s prized voucher program, which began last year. Challenging the program in court were the Louisiana Association of Educators, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the Louisiana School Boards Association.
The justices said that it was not their job to evaluate “the merits” of the voucher program but only whether it is constitutional. They said that the per-student funding formula for the program “unconstitutionally divert[s] MFP funds to nonpublic entities in violation” of the Louisiana Constitution.
What rcampbell said!
This is a public school that receives federal money?!
Where was the Freedom From Religion on this one? Maybe they don’t wander into the Bible Belt.
These are folks utterly convinced of, and devoted to, Jesus their Shepherd, and God their Creator. These well meaning folks have a lot more in common with their counterparts of the Dark Ages, than they do educators of present day USA. The answer in this case is drastic. The legal system has a duty here to come down very, very, hard in a manner to force the departure of these people from the public school. Perhaps their is a parochial school 25 miles in the other direction from the one with “more Asians” they could teach at.
What would make any rational person believe for a second that, specifically, Christian zealots have the least knowledge of, let alone regard for our secular Constitution–other than their wholly incorrect reading of the 2nd Amendment?
The Louisiana Public School Cramming Christianity Down Students’ Throats
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/26/the-louisiana-public-school-cramming-christianity-down-students-throats.html
Excerpt:
I’ll tell you a funny story. A family objected to all this prayer in public school recently and had a meeting with Superintendent Ebarb to voice their concerns. She “defended Roark specifically, declaring that ‘[t]eachers have religious freedom.’ She further stated ‘if they were in a different country,’ Plaintiffs would see ‘that country’s religion everywhere’ and that, therefore, they ‘shouldn’t be offended’ to ‘see God here.’” Just another reason to be thankful for Louisiana’s good graces!
And then do you know what Superintendent Ebarb did? That rascal—she wrote a letter to the school’s principle, Gene Wright, ‘stating that she approved of Wright’s practices in general and that she approved of the fact that the teachers” at the school “acted consistent with their religious beliefs.” Wright then “read the letter to the whole school over the public-address system.” I guess that’s what the Bible teaches us when it says, in 2 Samuel 22:31: “As for God, his way is perfect. He shields all who take refuge in him.” Incidentally, you can see that verse in a poster on the walls of our school!
Sounds like a very egregious violation.
It’s hardly surprising considering that the US uses huge sums of US tax dollars to support theocracies like Israel and Saudi Arabia. Either we need to have general agreement that all forms of thought are to be respected or that we want to group people by beliefs and shut out those with a different belief. We can’t have it both ways.
Well, This is one of the bastions of the KKK so I am not surprised. I hope that this family is armed because there is a very good chance they will have to shoot some KKK terrorists in the near future once this suit gets better known.