Posted on 05/02/2007 4:11:10 AM PDT by don-o
A couple doors down the hall from Mr. Johnson's classroom at Westview High School in Rancho Peñasquitos, a suburb of San Diego, a teacher has a picture of the grunge rock band Nirvana on her door. Other teachers have slogans from sports celebrities and cartoon characters. Teacher Brad Johnson has decorated his assigned homeroom with pictures of families and nature, and banners relating to American history, such as God Bless America.
That last item, the school district told Johnson in January of this year, is banned and must be removed from the classroom. Why? Because the Poway Unified School District is under the impression that any reference to "Creator," "Creation," or "God" is prohibited by law.
The following phrases struck the school board as objectionable: “In God We Trust,” the official motto of the United States; “One Nation Under God,” from the Pledge of Allegiance; “God Bless America,” a patriotic song considered to be the unofficial national anthem of the United States; “God Shed His Grace On Thee,” a line from America the Beautiful; and “All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed By Their Creator,” an excerpt from the preamble to the Declaration of Independence.
The Thomas More Law Center announced on May 1 that it has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Poway School District, claiming that school officials violated Johnson’s constitutional rights.
“Cleansing our nation’s classrooms of our religious heritage and history advances no legitimate educational purpose,” commented Richard Thompson, chief counsel for the Law Center. “In fact, such actions undermine the primary purpose of public education: to prepare students for citizenship in our republic.”
No one seems to know why the school district has chosen now to suppress historic and patriotic references to God that Mr. Johnson has displayed in his assigned homeroom, a classroom where he teaches for the entire day.
Johnson points out that seven different principals, approximately 4,000 students in grades 9 - 12, and 1,000 parents have seen these banners in his classroom since 1982 with never a single complaint.
“These are not the Ten Commandments or Bible texts,” said Robert Muise, the Law Center attorney handling the case. "These are lines from songs, mottoes, and slogans familiar to all of us as part of our history and patriotic heritage.
"It is the responsibility of all public school teachers, including Mr. Johnson, to educate students regarding our nation’s history and its founding. Mr. Johnson’s educational banners serve that purpose.”
Thomas More Center attorneys argue that the school district, by banning historic references to "God" and "Creator," is conveying "a government-sponsored message of disapproval of and hostility toward religion” in violation of the United States and California constitutions.
The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California to overturn the school district's speech restriction so that Johnson can continue to display his patriotic and historic banners, as he has for the past 25 years.
Muise quoted the US Supreme Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines to make his point: "Neither teachers nor students shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door."
Well somebody had to save the TOE!!!!!
“The Thomas More Law Center announced on May 1 that it has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Poway School District, claiming that school officials violated Johnson’s constitutional rights.”
This PC BS is out of control...I hope he wins.
This was written by Freeper, Mrs Don-o. Could you ping your list please? Leave a comment and maybe they will print more of her writing.
I got it! How bout klintoon “servicing” Brawny Frawnk on the Whithouse lawn, while hillary and chelsea look on? Doesn’t that sound “with it”?
My boss got really mad and made me take it down.
Sure, but it’s ok to idolize Nirvana and their drug use.
California ping
Hostility toward ONE religion. IF this had been about the machete-wielders, the administrators would have promoted it.
Make them empty their pockets, and surrender all that American money with that "illegal" motto on it. I'll take it off their hands just so they don't have to acknowledge even the word "God".
I posted a comment. It didn’t have any cuss words in it. I hope it will be posted soon.
Thanks.
I wonder if the reporter understood the irony of leading off with a teacher having a poster of the band “Nirvana”, given that Nirvana is a religious concept of heaven in Budhism, which makes it as much of a religious message as “In God We Trust”.
The author also could have noted that the actual National Anthem has the words “In God is our Trust”, just not in the part generally known to the population.
That would be a great comment to add at the page, Charles!
I already posted a comment that we had to stand up for and get more vocal about our rights, both to defend our own rights and to be a witness to the world that our religion actually matters to us.
btt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.