Family of Buddhist student sues American public school

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26 Jan 2014, 10:04 am

I'm glad they are suing and I hope those teachers lose their licenses. Unfortunately there will be plenty of room for the lot at all the charter schools popping up.

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TallyMan
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26 Jan 2014, 10:15 am

The teacher indoctrinating the children with religion during supposed science classes should be dismissed and barred from teaching ever again. I pity those poor kids who attempt to go on to study sciences at a higher level only to discover they know absolutely nothing about science and what they do think they know is completely false!

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buffinator
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26 Jan 2014, 11:01 am

TallyMan wrote:

thats why charter schools are so insidious, "barring a teacher from teaching" only applies to public schools, charters can hire whoever they want and from there it's buyer beware.

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TheGoggles
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26 Jan 2014, 11:12 am

Moviefan2k4 wrote:

Anti-Christian Lawyers Union

Obligatory: http://www.aclufightsforchristians.com/

cubedemon6073
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26 Jan 2014, 11:14 am

Fnord wrote:

GGPViper wrote:

Moviefan2k4 wrote:

There was a time when the Bible was the standard textbook for all American schools, before organizations like the Anti-Christian Lawyers Union demanded things be different. I'm not saying we should go back to that now, but I do hope that school stays true to its principles. I don't think the teachers should be forcing students to pray if they don't want to, though.

So, you openly support a public US school that is harassing a student for having different religious beliefs? How quaint...

God, guns, guts and religious harassment are what made this country.

The Puritans did not emigrate to this continent so much for religious freedom, but for the freedom to impose their religion upon others.

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26 Jan 2014, 11:46 am

I don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with Christian adornments or even the praying(so long as it nobody is forced to participate) but the teacher and the administration acted inappropriately and should be reprimanded for it. Teachers and students should respect everyone's beliefs.

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26 Jan 2014, 12:01 pm

LoveNotHate wrote:

The family of the Buddhist student is now sueing the American public school claiming religious discrimination.

( http://news.yahoo.com/public-school-cra ... itics.html )
http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/01/22/ ... gious.html

The ACLU filed complaint notes:

Christian adornments
-Paintings of Jesus Christ, Bible verses, and Christian devotional phrases adorn the walls of many classrooms and hallways.
-There are several posters urging students to “Pray,” “Worship,” and “Believe,”

Praying
-The math teacher makes students bow their heads and pray before lunch.
- Another teacher, Angela Knight, leads her class in daily prayers before lunch.

I read this far and thought suing was silly. Being made to pretend to pray is not worth suing over.

Then I read the rest of the post.

Quote:

The science teacher
- She said "Buddhism“’ is stupid. Speaking about the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha, she proclaimed that ‘no one could stay alive that long without food and water.”

I think the "stupid" remark is insensitive and the teacher should probably apologise, even if her statement is factually correct and the Buddha could not have survived under the tree without water.

Quote:

- She has told students that the Bible is ‘100% true”, and that ‘scientists are slowly finding out that everything in the Bible is accurate.’”
- She informs students that the Big Bang never happened and that the Universe was created by God approximately 6,000 years ago. She also teaches her students that evolution does not exist and has stated that, ‘if evolution were real, it would still be happening. Apes would be turning into humans today.”
- She routinely requires students to prove written professions of faith on science exams and other tests and assignments.
- She also gives extra credit on work if bible verses are cited in responses on the homework or tests.

Surely there is some kind of standards body that should strike off teachers who are this clearly incompetent?

Requiring written professions of faith is ridiculous and, from my limited knowledge of such things, clearly illegal. That almost makes the rejection of science in a science lesson seem acceptable. Almost.

Quote:

School's response
The superintendent of schools in the parish, Sara Ebarb asked the parents of a Buddhist student recently if he “has to be raised Buddhist”, or if he could “change” his faith and suggested to them that he should transfer to a school where “there are more Asians.”.

Quoted: "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 the school".

So, they tried to humiliate him after his parents complained.

That is out of order, and probably (again, with my limited knowledge of such things) the plaintiff's best line to pursue.

(tl;dr: I agree with Jacoby

)

beneficii
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26 Jan 2014, 12:06 pm

As a side note, I thought this was interesting:

http://www.aclufightsforchristians.com/

The ACLU even fought for the right of public school students to protest the ACLU!

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26 Jan 2014, 4:39 pm

Goodness! Even a blind amoeba can tell that this "public school" is taking their religious freedoms too far. This is going to become one of those tiring cases of "you're being intolerant of my intolerance" cases. Sadly this is not the first case I've heard of of a "public school" using their religious freedoms to gang up on a non-Christian student. But it only further proves why "putting God back in the schools" would be a terrible idea. The religious would only do what they accuse liberals of doing all the time.

Their motto should be: "We demand you respect our beliefs...as long as we don't have to respect others'."

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26 Jan 2014, 4:58 pm

The Supreme Court ruled on this over 50 years ago. Religion in public U.S. public schools must fall within very tight parameters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_prayer

Quote:

1963 and after[edit]
In two landmark decisions, Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), the US Supreme Court established what is now the current prohibition on state-sponsored prayer in schools. While the Engel decision held that the promulgation of an official state-school prayer stood in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause (thus overruling the New York Courts’ decisions), Abington held that Bible readings and other (state) school-sponsored religious activities were prohibited.[11] Following these two cases came the Court's decision in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), a ruling that established the Lemon test for religious activities within schools. The Lemon test states that in order to be constitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment any practice sponsored within state run schools (or other public, state sponsored activities) must adhere to the following three criteria:[12]
1)Have a secular purpose;
2)Must neither advance nor inhibit religion; and
3)Must not result in an excessive entanglement between government and religion.

Parameters bolded by me. The school is acting far outside the allowed parameters and deserves whatever spanking they get in court.

lotuspuppy
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26 Jan 2014, 6:37 pm

There are public schools like this dotted throughout the U.S. While such intermixing of religion with public education may be unconstitutional, the courts can do nothing about it unless someone files a suit. IMO, mixing religion and public education is fine if no one objects to it. If they do object, plenty of legal remedies exist.

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26 Jan 2014, 6:58 pm

The mandate of public schools is to teach literacy and help students become critical thinkers to compete in the global marketplace as a skilled workforce. Using government schools for any other agenda is counterproductive to society at large.

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26 Jan 2014, 8:02 pm

Then there is the opposite extreme. I once was placed in detention at my high school merely for quoting Samuel L. Jackson's Ezekiel 25:17 monologue to a couple of friends in a classroom. It offended eavesdropping atheists in the classroom who had no idea that what I was quoting didn't actually exist in the Bible, and that was enough for the school to have disciplinary action taken against me. That was quite a lovely experience for me. Some people will use any excuse to be offended.

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26 Jan 2014, 8:46 pm

KagamineLen wrote:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czb4jn5y94g[/youtube]

Ezekiel 25:17 wrote:

I will punish them severely and take full revenge on them. They will feel my anger. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

KagamineLen
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26 Jan 2014, 8:50 pm

ArrantPariah wrote:

KagamineLen wrote:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czb4jn5y94g[/youtube]

Ezekiel 25:17 wrote:

I will punish them severely and take full revenge on them. They will feel my anger. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Yeah, try sending Jules and Vincent to that school for a visit with those anti-Constitutional teachers in the news story that started this thread. That's quicker, and potentially more satisfying, than a lawsuit. Might cost a lot more, though.

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