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AmericanProtest.net > Weekly Column |
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Take Your Bible To School Dayby Wayne Boettcher Ohio public school teacher John Freshwater has kept a Bible on his desk for many years. And that was ok until recently when an unknown person complained to his school, which told Freshwater to hide the innocuous Bible. The oppressive order was based on the faulty premise of "separation of church and state" which many think is in the Constitution. However, that phrase is not in the Constitution. There is an amendment mentioning religion, known as the First Amendment: 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. Supposedly a public school teacher having a Bible on their desk equates to Congress making a law respecting an establishment of religion. Quite a stretch, there. And the First Amendment sentence continues on to deny prohibiting the free exercise thereof, meaning the exercise of religion. That is the part of the Constitution the school is violating by forbidding a Bible on a desk. While some public schools abide by the Constitution and even have classes on the Bible, others will go to incredible lengths to ban this famously Good Book. In 1782, Congress authorized the printing of the so-called "Bible of the Revolution," due to the shortage of English language Bibles in America. They certainly did not want the schools to run out of them! Back in those days all schools were required to have Bibles, since they were run by the local communities and not some federal overseer. The Founding Fathers would be shocked to hear of schools banning this Book under the alleged auspice of the Constitution. In one notorious year 2000 case at a Houston middle school, a teacher confiscated two sister's Bibles and threw them in the trash while severely reprimanding them just for bringing them. Their mother came down to the school and got the Bibles back from the trashcan, later withdrawing the siblings and home schooling them. Sometimes it's not Bibles but Bible Clubs that are banned, and sometimes Bibles are not confiscated but the students are simply not allowed to read them during free study time periods. What are these censoring bureaucrats so afraid of? They probably have much angst in their lives, but the irrational fear of hearing a sermon is called Homilophobia. The root cause of such dread could due to various reasons, but probably all of them have to do with guilt, real or imagined. Guilt is a powerful emotion and can cause people to act in many strange ways. Yet that is still no excuse for oppressing the Constitutional rights of other Americans. Regardless of the reason, patriotic Americans everywhere should band together to fight Bible banners. In the case of Mr. Freshwater, he refused to school's oppressive order. Furthermore, many students themselves took immediate action, holding a "Take Your Bible To School Day" on April 18th, 2008. A rally was also held in the public square of the town, Mount Vernon, to support the teacher's Constitutionally correct cause. Students and supporters wore Christian themed T-shirts and showed support for the beleaguered science teacher. What a great idea. I say let's have "Take Your Bible To School Day" every year! Youth pastors should encourage the bold reading of Bibles at school every day, but bringing them especially on one day makes a telling statement. "See You At The Flagpole" was a student-initiated and student-led annual school prayer started in Texas in 1990 by a church youth group. By 1998 more than 3 million were attending every September and that tradition is still expanding. As a speed-reader, I have read many thousands of books in my lifetime. Some of my favorites I read several times. The Bible is a fascinating Book in that the whole thing can't be just quickly perused and dismissed. It is more packed with more information and concepts to think about then any other book. Christians should all carry Bibles and read them when we can, for as the Bible itself says in Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." But carrying the Bible also makes a statement to the world. It implies one is a Christian and has certain beliefs, of which one is not ashamed. It also acts as a check upon bad manners in a society that accepts them as a matter of course. It's harder to yell at that person who cut in line at the grocery store when you have a Bible! And when you open the door for someone or assist him or her in other ways, they see the Bible in your hand and realize that helping others can be a way of life. Giving Bibles to others is a great way to improve society as a whole. Anti-Bible attitudes are not just occurring in schools, but other places as well. The Gideons have been putting Bibles in hotel rooms for many years, yet recently some hotels have refused them. Of course, there is no Constitutional issue here since they are not banned if hotel guests bring them; yet this intermittent refusal to the Gideons speaks volumes. If you carry a Bible around, you might find yourself giving it away more than once to someone who asks about it. And that's a good thing. The more that people attempt to ban them, the more we should bring our Bibles out in whatever way we can. Let's take our Bibles to work, school and play, not only to overwhelm and challenge would-be censors but to read and profit from Scripture. The time has come to stand up for the Bible - and the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America! Wayne Boettcher is the head of AmericanProtest.net Related Links: |
