The lone person who complained about a scene in a Christmas play in a public elementary school in Kentucky that featured a bible quote may have won the battle of getting the scene excised from the play – but the move backfired badly when the Kentucky legislature decided to propose two new laws that will prevent this kind of abuse of free speech from happening again.
The Catholic League is reporting on a 2015 case involving W. R. Castle Elementary School in Johnson County, Kentucky where someone complained about a scene in the school’s presentation of “Charlie Brown’s Christmas.” The scene included the phrase: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior which is Christ the Lord. That’s what Christmas is all about.”
In this age when atheist and anti-religion activist groups threaten a lawsuit whenever the name of Christ is uttered in a public school, Superintendent Tom Salyer decided it was best to excise the scene from the play.
Parents and other public officials were outraged by this blatant act of censorship and began to reexamine the role of religion in schools. As a result of that reexamination, two bills are now pending which will ensure the religious rights of students and teachers.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue explains that Senate bill, SB 17, sponsored by Sen. Albert Robinson, will expand the religious and political rights of students whether expressed in homework assignments, art work or other modes of speech.
“In addition, his bill would respect speeches given by students at a school forum: the text of their remarks could not be altered before delivering them. Religious messages on student clothing would also be covered, as would the right of students to meet outside the classroom for religious purposes. Teachers could use the Bible to teach history and the study of religion; they could also use it to discuss biblical influences on art and music,” Donohue explains.
The bill passed 31-3 in the Senate and is now pending before the House.
In the meantime, the House proposed its own bill, HB 128, which will allow an elective social studies course on “the Hebrew Scripture, Old Testament of the Bible, the New Testament, or a combination” of the two.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. D.J. Johnson, reminds us that “The Bible is the single most impactful literary work that we have in Western civilization. It affects our culture, our values, our laws.”
The bill passed 80-14 in the House and is now awaiting Senate approval.
“That these measures are needed in 2017 is a sign of how militant the nation’s secular activists have become,” Donohue said. “All these bills would do is lock in what should be considered the uncontroversial rights of students and teachers.”
He is urging Kentucky lawmakers to insist that the religious rights of students and teachers are respected, and is asking the governor, Republican Matt Bevin, to be supportive of them.
“They would then be providing a great model for all states,” Donohue says. “Not to do so would be to award the censors with constitutional rights they should never have.”
And it would also send a much needed message to anyone who wants to shut down religious expression in public schools – you might win a few battles in school districts here and there, but this war is far from over.
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