| ACLU sues Tenn. school district for repeatedly promoting religion |
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| By Bob Allen | |||
| Wednesday, November 18, 2009 | |||
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ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (ABP) -- Tennessee's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Nov. 16 accusing the Cheatham County Board of Education of ignoring more than four decades of court decisions interpreting the separation of church and state.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, claims board members and the principals of two schools for years have endorsed and promoted religion through extracurricular activities like marching band, choir and sports; classroom instruction and related content; and graduation ceremonies and other school events. ACLU officials said they filed the lawsuit on behalf of two former students and the families of two current students only after six months of negotiations with the school district failed to produce any change in the policy. In fact, they said, it appears that school-sponsored religious activities have only increased during the current academic year.
"It is unfortunate that we had to go to court to protect religious freedom, but we had no other choice," said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of Tennessee ACLU. "This pattern and practice of school-sponsored religious activities in Cheatham County erodes the principle of religious freedom that is so central to our democracy." The ACLU threatened to sue in May but backed down when the school district's attorney assured the organization that the 2009 graduation ceremony at Sycamore High School in Pleasant View, Tenn., would not include an unconstitutional school-sanctioned prayer. During the May 29 ceremony, however, the student-government president introduced what she described as a customary invocation led by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes' student of the year. The plaintiffs say school officials since at least 2001 have used district-wide policy, practice and custom to promote their personal beliefs and to proselytize students in class and extracurricular activities. Specific allegations include: -- A band instructor who was leading the marching band in practice for an upcoming football halftime performance when he stopped and called on a particular student to pray. -- A December 2007 concert where students sang Christmas and other seasonal songs and the choir director announced to the crowd words similar to, "We all know the reason we are here tonight, even if we are not allowed to say it." -- A band Christmas concert in 2008 where students were asked to read lyrics or introductions to Christmas songs before the band played them. One of the plaintiffs was selected to read a religious lyric but was reassigned a non-religious lyric after another student objected that it shouldn't be read by a non-Christian. -- Distribution of Gideon Bibles inside classrooms at Cheatham Middle School, in which students were instructed to line up to receive Bibles and to write their names in them. -- One high-school teacher displayed a foot-tall cross in his classroom next to a whiteboard used for student instruction. Another teacher required students to read and write about the biblical creation stories as an assignment for English class. A world history teacher introduced "intelligent design" as an acceptable alternative to evolution. An American history teacher read, in an angry tone, a handout emphasizing that the United States was founded as a "Christian nation" and criticizing the ACLU. None of those incidents, the lawsuit argues, were related to the general curriculum of the class or relevant to lessons being discussed that week.
Charles Haynes of the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center said if the allegations are true, the school district in Cheatham County is "in clear violation" of the First Amendment. "Apparently, Cheatham County school officials continue to promote religion in defiance of Supreme Court rulings handed down more than 40 years ago," Haynes said. "It is unfortunate that some public schools continue to trigger expensive and divisive lawsuits by continuing to promote religion." Attorney Allen Woods, who represents the school board, told The Tennessean that all of Cheatham County's policies are in accordance with recommendations of the Tennessee School Board Association. "The schools in question and all Cheatham County schools neither endorse any specific religion nor interfere with the religion of its students," Woods said. "That's what the Constitution requires." Haynes advised the district to end the practices and settle the case. "There are many ways in which the district can protect student religious expression and appropriately teach about religion," he said. "But first the district has to make sure that teachers and staff stay neutral toward religion during the school day." Americans United for Separation of Church and State recently published a new book about what role religion may and may not play in the classroom. Religion in the Public Schools: A Road Map for Avoiding Lawsuits and Respecting Parents' Legal Rights is a 129-page volume designed for parents, students, teachers, school administrators, board members and anyone else with an interest in church-state law. "Although public schools may not 'establish' religion by acting with religious purpose or effect, by entangling themselves with religion, or by endorsing religion, they also may not prohibit the free exercise of any particular student's religious beliefs or expression," author Anne Marie Lofaso, associate professor of law at West Virginia University College of Law, wrote in the book's preface. "The trick for many schools is how to permit religious liberty without endorsing religion." The book sells for $14.95 on Amazon.com. It is also available as a free PDF download from the Americans United website.
Cheatham County is located 20 minutes west of metropolitan Nashville with northern and southern county lines extending to Interstates 24 and 40. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the rapidly growing county's 2008 population at 39,396. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.
                Comments (8)
 ...
written by KT2005, November 18, 2009
Who would have thought that freedom is promoted by restricting free choice. . . well the ACLU of coarse. lol
While suicide, teenage pregnancy, STDs, and other problems pledge our children communities are restricted from teaching values that address these problems. Then people ask what is wrong with America? Well, the problem is the ACLU has taken over the education of our children. The courts have now ruled that communities cannot teach timeless western values found in Christianity. So now we have a society without values that are unable to solve the problems listed above. Public school is no longer run by the public. Communities are forbidden to teach their own values to their own children. . . but are forced to pay taxes to teach their own children things they disagree with. Where is freedom in this? Vouchers or tax credits are the answer. Vouchers disarm the ACLU and allow communities/parents to take back control of education. . . which Washington stole away through supreme court rulings. ...
written by JB2009, November 19, 2009
Xenophon – I would recommend reading about the logical fallacy of appealing to tradition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_tradition
I would also like you to define harm, because you fail to recognize the discomfort caused by reading and constantly seeing other religious beliefs in a public place. KT 2005 – When you state that “Public school is no longer run by the public”, your claim does not account for the students who are not a part of the majority. Public school is the only available option open to everyone. If you would like to have people spread the word of the lord in the classroom, work, and make enough money to send your child to the religious educational institution of your choice. Think about being the child who is non-Christian and imagine going to a place where other religions are constantly being preached to you. Schools are places of learning that need to create a comfortable environment to encourage maximum performance. Both of you – Imagine if you had had Stars of David all around your school or had to read Arabic prayers in the middle of a football game. ...
written by BBlove45, November 19, 2009
JB2009- You are right on. I am actually a high school chorus teacher, and over the holidays i work hard to incorporate music from all different faiths for our winter concerts. I can justify singing Christmas music because the musical quality of the songs is undeniable, but I also include songs from Hanuka and regular winter songs and we explain very clearly that this is about music and this is how different cultures use music as expression. I've been looking for Muslim song for a while now. If you know any, JB let me know!
There's a difference between a school performing Handel's "Alleluia" and explaining that this is musically challenging and "in season" and proclaiming "We all know why we're here." We can leave that for church! That is why we are here! Not everyone is at school for that. ...
written by KT2005, November 19, 2009
Bblove,
No offense, but if I had my way I would fire every government school teacher/administrator. Education in this country is so poor. Testing proves this as school after school fails. Our test scores are behind other nations. The values that have made this country great cannot be taught in so called "public schools." You prove my point with your words. In the name of fairness you try to find a Muslim song! Muslim values did not make this country great, Christian values did. The less Christian we become the worse things get. Homes are falling apart. People take guns and kill fellow employees because they are depressed. Women are on anti-depressants at record rates. Divorce is normal. Crime is up. Children are violent. Children are sexualized. I could go on and on! Why are these things happening? A lack of values is the correct answer. Why do we have less values? Because public schools in the name of fairness have outlawed the teaching of community values. So called public schools are killing our country. Traditional values senior citizens die while public schools graduate liberals who support gay marriage. In short, public schools have destroyed this traditional Christian country. . . just as Dewey wanted when he set up this system. The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. reply to JB, part 1
written by Xenophon, November 20, 2009
JB, in reply to your questions, let me first address the issue of tradition. Tradition is the collected wisdom of generations of experience. Can it be wrong or outdated? Yes. Is a tradition open to modification and still be a tradition? Yes. Consider Edmund Burke's admonition that "change is the means of our conservation." But we must also consider Burke's corollary admonition that the individual, no matter how brilliant, is "foolish" in making decisions without regard to the body of knowledge encapsulated in a tradition. No one person could possibly take in and rationally process all of the complex information that has been sifted and evaluated by millions over the course of centuries that has gone into the development of a tradition. That is why Burke goes on to say that "The multitude is foolish; but the species is wise."
Another way to see this point is to consider Michael Polanyi's discussion of 'tacit knowledge.' We know many things that are simply too complex to articulate or to even put our finger on. For example, I can recognize a friend's face, but I could not describe in so many words exactly what he looks like. The facial characteristics and their positioning, size, proportions, etc. are simply too complex to articulate. Another example is the pattern in a quartz crystal. The patterns are too complex and multivariate to fully articulate. Society on Polanyi's view is infinitely more complex and polycentric than a face or a pattern in a mineral deposit. So, we should rely on the implicit knowledge that has been passed onto us in habit, intuition, and tradition. This incremental, accumulative approach to understanding how to resolve legal problems has been the basis of English Common Law for centuries and serves as the basis of American law with the exception of Louisiana. Judges build on the previous body of law that has built up over centuries of experience. It has been American liberal left courts in the Twentieth Century that summarily overturned well-established precedents because these ungrounded judges deemed their own abstract perspective on what the law should be superior to the collective judgements of previous jurists. The types of practices mentioned in the report above have been commonly accepted since the founding of the country until the mid-Twentieth Century. They produced generally good results and seem consistent with the original purposes and understandings of the principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. In the Wiki article you provide a link to it says: " An appeal to tradition essentially makes two assumptions: * The old way of thinking was proven correct when introduced. In actuality this may be false — the tradition might be entirely based on incorrect grounds. * The past justifications for the tradition are still valid at present. In cases where circumstances have changed, this assumption may be false." The first point could be true in some cases but not in others. For example, Burke makes the point that even if a practice is introduced into a society or a culture for one reason, whether it is based on a true belief or not, it can serve one ostensible purpose for a while and then morph into another social function over time. In fact, the practice or rule might not have been doing what it was thought to be doing the entire time. So, if it is irrelevant whether the overt justification for a practice is true as long as it works. Hence, one of the the conservative connections with pragmatism. reply to JB, part 2
written by Xenophon, November 20, 2009
As for the second point, there is no reason to believe that times have changed and children do not need a religious base to their education. We have seen the results of this social experiment foisted on the American public by leftists sitting on courts and these results have been a disaster. But even if change were needed, we have the process of constitutional amendment to remedy drastic changes in circumstances and changes in our fundamental understandings of justice that the text and the traditional understanding of the Constitution cannot accommodate.
On the issue of being subjected to hearing and reading beliefs held by others that one rejects, such discomfort has been seen as part and parcel of free speech. I agree people can be harmed by speech. So, we have libel laws. I do not see that what is described in the report is similar to libel. What one might argue more effectively is that some people are harmed, in a sense, when social patterns develop in a free society leading to their religious perspective being marginalized. I do agree that harm in some sense can occur in these cases. But if one business drives the other out of the market, there is harm done to the competitor who fails, but we do not make such harms legally actionable. New people move into neighborhoods who then form networks of social relationships that have the side-effect of marginalizing the older residents or vice-versa. Friedrich Hayek points out that where we draw the line with what counts as a legal harm is somewhat arbitrary, but we must draw it if we are to have liberty. I think where we drew the lines more traditionally in church-state relationships is more in keeping with the Framers' purposes and intentions and proved themselves more effective than the view that draws on the Continental European understanding of the principles of religious liberty. TO KT2005 written by WormWood, January 14, 2010
The problem isn't the left nor the right, it is the individual. I keep reading all of these comments that hold no depth, no ground. We as individuals need to educate ourselves and break free. Our faith is our main source of joy, and it is a wonderful and amazing thing; but in today’s society you must READ. KT2005 made a comment that America's test scores have dropped a great deal, and this is true; but it isn't because students are taught by liberals, and it is funny that there are still people out there who think this is a Christian nation. I have startling news, it isn't, and never was. John Tyler-- the tenth president-- wrote in 1843 a letter: "The United States have adventured upon a great and noble experiment, which is believed to have been hazarded in the absence of all previous precedent -- that of total separation of Church and State. No religious establishment by law exists among us. The conscience is left free from all restraint and each is permitted to worship his Maker after his own judgment. The offices of the Government are open alike to all. No tithes are levied to support an established Hierarchy, nor is the fallible judgment of man set up as the sure and infallible creed of faith. The Mohammedan, if he will to come among us would have the privilege guaranteed to him by the constitution to worship according to the Koran; and the East Indian might erect a shrine to Brahma, if it so pleased him. Such is the spirit of toleration inculcated by our political Institutions." Separation between church AND state, not separation of church from state. We are equally separated and rightly divided. We take are religious freedoms for granted as if they are owed to us, they aren't. We have fought for our rights just as many of our enemies fought for their land when America began to take it or invade it. That is not a stab at America but showing that we are all in the wrong. To say that public schools are no good and all they do is spawn liberals that support gay marriage is not only offensive to many individuals but also idiotic.
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Many of these practices they are accused of, as if what they were doing was a crime, were common when I was a child in public schools in Florida and Georgia. I memorized and recited Luke 2:1-14 in Kaley Elementary School in Orlando, Florida, for a Christmas Pageant in which we also sang Christmas carols with few other Christmas songs other than "Jingle Bells." We also had school prayer there and in Dunwoody Elementary School in suburban Atlanta.
Among the list of supposed infractions that I do think is a problem and should be corrected is the following: "One of the plaintiffs was selected to read a religious lyric but was reassigned a non-religious lyric after another student objected that it shouldn't be read by a non-Christian."
But the bulk of these practices were not deemed unconstitutional until the mid-Twentieth Century. There is no reason to think that these public celebrations and recognitions of our common religious heritage is a violation of the First Amendment or a violation of anyone's rights given the case law up until the Warren Court and the rationale for the First Amendment. I also question the standing of the ACLU to even bring such suits since they or their clients have not been harmed by the observance of these traditions.