Posted on 08/20/2004 3:51:15 AM PDT by TomDoniphon68
HUMANSVILLE, Mo. -- A school superintendent who posted the Ten Commandments in a student cafeteria was put on leave without pay after saying he would not follow federal law on religious expression.
School officials declined to say whether Humansville Superintendent Greg Thompson would remain a district employee.
The 11-inch-by-14-inch plaque hung by Thompson shortly after he was hired six years ago was challenged in March by resident Carrie Roat, who argued in a federal lawsuit that the plaque violated the constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state.
According to school documents, Thompson told the school board earlier this month that he would not comply with the federal religious expression laws.
School board members approved the administrative leave on a 6-1 vote in a closed meeting Aug. 11, the documents show.
"I appreciate the depth of his beliefs, but if you're going to be a public school administrator, you're going to have to be able to separate your religious beliefs from your professional responsibility," said Tom Mickes, an attorney for an insurance pool of hundreds of Missouri school districts, including Humansville.
"You can't very well tell the children that you should follow the rules, but I don't have to," Mickes said.
A call to Thompson's home on Thursday was not answered.
Roat's suit also objected to prayers being said at athletic banquets.
The school district in Humansville, a town of 950 in southwestern Missouri, agreed in July to pay Roat $45,000, stop displaying religious symbols and stop officials from leading students in prayer. Wording of the settlement is not final, and it still needs court approval.
Alabama's chief justice, Roy Moore, lost his job last year after refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from that state's courthouse.
Bye-bye.
If I were him I would take down the plaque and replace it with another that has the verses from the Quran re: killing or enslaving the infidels on it! Then he could do the whole book thing!
Somewhere I remember there being an edict of some sort...
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Funny how he can be in violation of something the Constitution says cannot exist.
The only federal law on religious expression is the Constitution which allows it. Only rules by the Court disallow it, but since when do courts get to write lawsAccording to school documents, Thompson told the school board earlier this month that he would not comply with the federal religious expression laws.
I would like someone to point me to this law they are talking about..
Really? Then why are the kids all sitting amongst a bunch of illegal aliens (I'm not saying they should be kicked out, but I am saying it's a big contradiction).
There's gotta be a story about how that town got named.
amen.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't this the wrong argument to be using in the first place? The "separation of church and state" should be applied to the government only if it tries to enact laws limiting our rights here by declaring an official State Church. A public school is hardly doing that. Is this federal law supposably based on the First Amendment? Shouldn't the Constitution trump all?
I'm so sick of the Constitution being twisted and altered by the Left. Dumbed-down education, corrupt activists judges, Marxists socialists Commie Rats, and a few generations who won't attempt to wean themselves from the government tit are destroying all this country is supposed to be.
ugh...it's all just getting to me today.
You must be a fool if you think this is due to "the Christ haters of America".
Such mindless comments are pointless.
Personally, I have no problem with a public display of the commandments....others do, however, and I have no sympathy for 'in your face' folks of any religion. The way one lives one's life says a lot more about their religious principles and faith than their preening and posturing.
Which version of the 10 Commandments did he post?
I wonder which party Carrie Roat is a member of?
>>>The "separation of church and state" should be applied to the government only if it tries to enact laws limiting our rights here by declaring an official State Church.
When the head governement employee of the governement financed and run school district posts a rule on the wall stating "Thou shalt have no other gods before me", is he not establishing a religion?
I still want someone to point me to this federal law and tell me when congress passed this law. There is no law being violated, except rules that were created by the courts. But by what authority do the courts have to legislate? Are we being governed by non-elected officials who are above our system of checks and balances?
Do you have problems with courts just creating laws? Laws are suppose to be made by the legislative branch, but I am quite certain they have never passed a law outlawing such act. The alledged law is a creation of the courts. Do you approve of non-elected officals by-passing both the Legislative Branch and Executive Branch in creating laws?
Wrong. I know Greg personally. He is a man of true faith; this coming from an avowed agnostic. Let me give you a little background on this man, and my families involvement with him and his family.
About 5-6 years ago, my wife and my cousins kids were coming home of late one night. They saw a car wreck. Being a nurse at the time, my wife was compelled to stop. After pushing through the gathered crowd, there was a man lying on the ground, he had been thrown from the car. He had no pulse, and was not breathing. My wife, and a teen age boy started CPR. As the ambulance arrived, about 5 minutes later, he started to breath and had a faint pulse. My wife turned him over to the PMs and came home, covered in blood and vomit. She called the hospital to check on him and left the issue at that.
About 4 months later, my wife was running for a PTA position. They announced her name at the meeting. This blond haired lady comes to the back hall, where my wife and I were standing. She was frantically asking for my wife. Turns out this was Greg's sister, who by happen chance was also going to be my son's Kindergarten teacher. She thanked my wife for saving her brother's life. They hugged and cried for about 10 minutes.
Anyway, she invited us to one of their family gatherings, so my wife could meet Greg, under better circumstances. We met the entire family (11 brothers and sisters and all the associated kids, grandkids, ect). They sort of adopted my family, which has been a blessing, as they are genuinely nice people.
Finding out Greg's story, he has truly been blessed. he has died and been brought back to life three times. First as a child in a farming accident, then as a young adult, then by my wife. These experiences have made him a devoutly religious person. After his last time, he did a lot of soul searching and listened to his heart. He honestly feels that he has a place in teaching children. I won't go into his feelings on how his faith, any faith really, helps him and the kids. It would be presumptuous to speak for him.
I can say that he is fighting tooth and nail against humanism in the school system. He does feel that by taking God completely out of the public life, we are surrendering a great deal of our humanity and faith. This suspension is the culmination of a running battle. He told his teachers that they would say the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the day. Students and teachers did not have to recite the pledge, they did have to respect others as they said it though. One of the teacher balked, spouting off about separation of church and state, and all the standard liberal crap. She and her backers, then got upset because Greg allowed the father of a soldier who was in Iraq, and a graduate of Humansville HS, to ask for a prayer for his son during the Veteran's Day celebration at the school. They ended up suing the school district.
The way the circumstances of Greg's suspension are described is very tilted, IMO. Of course, I have been unable to find where in the Constitution it say the phrase "separation of church and state", so I feel that the people behind this are not only wrong, but also ill-informed.
His family has told him to just take the plaque down, put the bible in the desk drawer, and the cross in his pocket. He feels that that would be caving in and hiding his faith. He does not try to prostyilize anyone. he is more than willing to discuss his faith with anyone that asks, though. He has started an outreach ministry, with a group of like minded people. It's called "Asleep No More". I am not a religious person, so I haven't really gotten into it. If you anyone is, I would recommend contacting them and checking it out.
They do not have a web presence, that I know of. If anyone would like more information on it, though, you can PM me and I will pass it on to Greg. Also, even if you are not religious, and simply want to support him in his fight against the destruction of the school system and states rights, he would appreciate the support.
I've told him he needs to become part of the FR community. I don't know if he has, or not.
Man, I wish we could edit things after they are posted. What a monsterously bad typing that was! :-)
Well, I'm sure it's the same one our Founding Fathers used to craft the Constitution.
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