Posted on 09/09/2008 11:34:22 PM PDT by kellynla
A math teacher sued his school district after the principal told him the words "In God We Trust" and "All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed By Their Creator" must be removed from his homeroom wall because they convey a Judeo-Christian viewpoint.
In January, Principal Dawn Kastner told Westview High School math teacher Bradley Johnson that a banner he had posted in his classroom for 25 years, and another that was posted for 17 years, needed to come down.
The older banner, measuring 7 feet by 2 feet, contained the words "In God We Trust," "One Nation Under God," "God Bless Ameirica" and "God Shed His Grace On Thee." The second banner quoted the Declaration of Independence by including the phrase, "All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed By Their Creator."
Even though 4,000 students have passed through Johnson's classroom without a single complaint in 25 years, the principal told Johnson the banners were now impermissible because of their religious content.
The Thomas More Law Center, a not-for-profit law firm dedicated to the defense of religious freedoms, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Johnson against the Poway Unified School District of San Diego, Calif., which includes Westview High School, claiming the order to remove the banners violated Johnson's First Amendment freedom of speech, particularly since the district permits other teachers to hang Buddhist, Islamic, and Tibetan prayer messages on their classroom walls.
Richard Thompson, president of the Law Center, commented, "Many public schools exhibit a knee-jerk hostility towards Christianity and seek to cleanse our nation's classrooms of our religious heritage while promoting atheism or other religions under the guise of cultural diversity."
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
reason #46467 to homeschool
So the principal wants to ban the Declaration of Independence?! Sounds like someone that should resign...he's certainly no educator.
vaudine
I am surprised they allowed the banners to stay up that long.
WTG Judge Benitez! Who appointed him?
If I was incorrect on the gender of the principal I stand corrected. Personally, I don't think it's an issue of gender but very likely just another stupid liberal attempting to enforce their twisted views against God, even if that means they have to rewrite history, the constitution and the declaration of independence to do so. Leave it to a liberal to violate the constitution to impose their rewrite of the constitution.
1. "All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed By Their Creator" - stays, because banning the citing of the founding documents of this country is the first step towards sedition. That would be like banning a poster with the phrase "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech..."
2. "In God We Trust" - stays, because it's on our currency, the same currency that the schoolchildren use to buy their lunch each day. Is the school principal willing to give up his paycheck because his money says this?
3. "God Bless Ameirica" and "God Shed His Grace On Thee." - goes, because they are songs, and part of the popular culture. It would be hard for a teacher to defend quoting song lyrics on classroom posters.
4. "One Nation Under God," - this is the bargaining chip, depending on how far to push the issue. On the one hand, it is in the Pledge of Allegience, but on the other hand, it was added by act of Congress in the 1950's. Therefore, Congress could amend it to satisfy any whim of the time, such as ""One Nation Under God, So There," or "Two Nations Under God," (the Edwards choice), or "One Nation Under Two Gods," or whatever. Use this phrase as the power-play, either for compromise and reconciliation, or to rub someone's nose in it.
-PJ
Hey, I can touch bottom!
This beats all. When our founding document cannot be displayed in public schools, there is something very wrong with government and the education system.
Yup, and it's called the ACLU!
If he's any kind of a teacher, his kids and the parents will back him, and they will laugh. If his principal is any kind of a man, that will provide the school "leadership" with enough cover to stand up to bullying. If not, then the ACLU will lose an expensive one, and while the ACLU leadership is evil, they are usually smart enough to avoid fights they'll lose.
With Principals like this, no wonder we have kids not getting education in our schools.
We are spending our money on lawsuits instead to please these stupid administrator’s personal beliefs.
Should be fired immediately.
Those who can't, teach.
Those who can't teach, administrate.
Actually, it's "those who can't teach, teach teachers."
Those who can't do anything at all are administrators.
09/10/2008Good News: Judge Says Teacher Can Keep Patriotic Banners that Mention God
A federal judge ruled Friday that a California teacher can display patriotic banners in his classroom while a lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Law Center moves forward.
Brad Johnson, a math teacher at Westview High School in San Diego, was asked to remove from his classroom red, white and blue banners that contain phrases such as "In God We Trust," "One Nation Under God" and "God Bless America."
School officials said the banners, which Johnson has displayed for 25 years, promoted a Judeo-Christian viewpoint. However, other teachers were allowed to keep posters with Buddhist and Islamic messages, Tibetan prayer flags and other displays.
Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for the Thomas More Law Center, said: “Many public schools exhibit a knee-jerk hostility towards Christianity and seek to cleanse our nation’s classrooms of our religious heritage while promoting atheism or other religions under the guise of cultural diversity.”
LINK: http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000008136.cfm#">
I understand her desires, but why isn’t she concerned with just teaching Math. If this was a history teacher I would be on her side. Even when I went through Catholic School, the Math classrooms were pretty bare in order to have the teachers concentrate on MATH!!!!
her = his
These “teachers” are only interested in spreading their philosophy...
and if their students happen to learn anything from the subjects they actually signed up for...well, good for them.
"Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink."
P.J.O'Rourke
I agree but can we please just let the kids learn MATH?
Oh, that’s just horrible! Doesn’t he know he should be handing out dental dams and rubbers?
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