 |
Schools
Sued
Over
Bible Classes Supported
By
Conservative Christian Groups
by AP
from 365Gay.com from the Web, May 29, 2007
|
| |
|
Dallas, Texas, May 27 -- Two
advocacy groups have filed a federal lawsuit against a West Texas school
district on behalf of eight parents who say a Bible course violates their
religious liberty.
The American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way Foundation
sued the Ector County Independent School District, asking the Odessa school
system to stop teaching the course.
"Religion is very important in my family and we are very involved in our
religious community. But the public schools are no place for religious
indoctrination that promotes certain beliefs that not all the kids in the school
share," Doug Hildebrand, a Presbyterian deacon who is among the plaintiffs, said
in a written statement released by the ACLU.
The Ector school board approved the high school elective in 2005. It
teaches the King James version of the sacred text using material produced by the
Greensboro, N.C.-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools,
and uses the Bible as the students' textbook.
Backers of the National Council include David Barton, who operates a Web site
that promotes helping local officials develop policies that reflect Biblical
views and encourages Christian involvement in civic affairs. Other
supporters of the program include the conservative American Family Association,
Eagle Forum and Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute.
"There is no question that these Bible electives are constitutional," said Kelly
Shackelford, Liberty Legal's chief counsel. "The United States Supreme
Court has stated more than once that teaching about the Bible is not only
constitutional, but essential to a quality education. This lawsuit is a
loser."
Critics claim the coursework contains errors, dubious research and blatantly
favors a fundamentalist, Protestant view of the Bible.
Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU of Texas, said the National Council
course is "basically a Sunday School class within the walls of a public school."
Mike Adkins, spokesman for the Ector Independent School District, said
previously that the district is comfortable with its curriculum.
School Superintendent Wendell Sollis said district officials are reviewing the
lawsuit with their lawyer, and declined to comment further. "We are not
going to debate the individual points of the suit publicly," he said.
|
