Tennessee School District Sued Over Ties to Evangelistic Crusade

FOX News via AP | 5/12/03 | Unknown

[Blood of Tyrants]

MAYNARDVILLE, Tenn. — Every year, hundreds of Union County students take a field trip for the soul. Children are excused from class, loaded onto school buses with teachers and sent to a three-day Christian revival.

"I am going to ask you a question," an evangelical leader recently yelled to a sea of students ready for their field trip. "If you are glad to be here, say amen!"

With the ardor of a pep rally, the students shouted back: "AAAA-men!"

Not everyone is so enthusiastic.

Fourteen-year-old India Tracy said she was harassed and attacked by classmates for nearly three years after she declined to attend Baptist Pastor Gary Beeler's annual crusade because of her family's pagan religion.

Her family has filed a federal lawsuit against Union County schools, claiming the crusade, prayers over the loudspeaker, a Christmas nativity play, a Bible handout and other proselytizing activities in the rural school system have become so pervasive they are a threat to safety and religious liberty.

Union County officials say the system is neutral when it comes to religious activities, pointing out that the crusade is voluntary, teachers chaperone on their own time and school buses are operated by private contractors.

"We do not endorse, promote or prohibit it," said school spokesman Wayne Goforth.

District officials say the crusade, now in its sixth year, is like any other field trip, with parental permission required to let the children attend for two hours a day over three days. On the crusade's final day this year, April 30, more than 1,300 of the school system's 3,000 students attended.

"All local boards of education have the authority to allow students to voluntarily attend these types of events," said Christy Ballard, legal counsel to the Tennessee Department of Education.

But, she added, "it is very clear in the statute that they can't harass a student or coerce them to participate ... and, of course, they can't be school-sponsored."

Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va., said school officials and Christian leaders in Union County need a "crash course on the meaning of the First Amendment -- especially the part that separates church from state."

Beeler, 63, who lives and preaches in Union County, said he has been contacted by communities around the country wanting to set up similar crusades, and sees nothing wrong with children getting time off from school to attend them.

"The principals, the teachers, the bus drivers all have told us that they have less behavior problems after this crusade than they do before. So that tells us the positive effect," he said.

India said she was called "Satan worshipper" and accused of eating babies when it was revealed she was a pagan. She said she was taunted, found slurs painted over her locker and was injured when classmates assaulted her and slammed her head into the locker.

The lawsuit said school officials took no disciplinary action. In a May 2 legal response, school officials said they acted appropriately, denied the attacks happened, or said they were unaware of them.

Paganism is an ancient religious tradition that embraces kinship with nature, positive morality and the idea that there is both a female and male side of Deity.

After Christmas break in early 2002, India said three boys chased her down a hall at Horace Maynard Middle School, grabbed her by the neck and said, "You better change your religion or we'll change it for you."

She broke free and fled into the girls' bathroom. A teacher stopped the boys from following her, the lawsuit said.

"That was pretty much the last straw because she was terrified," said India's father, Greg Tracy.

The Tracys took India out of school on Feb. 26, 2002.

A straight-A student, she belonged to the leadership-service organization Beta Club, chess club, and band. She was the only girl on the middle school football team.

Now she takes Internet courses at home and hopes to transfer to a public school in Knoxville, 25 miles away.

"When was it too hard? I don't know," India said. "On a couple of occasions it was too hard and then it got easier and then it started getting bad again and I would come home bawling my eyes out."

[Blood of Tyrants]

You stated there is no freedom from religion. In that case, it would seem that the government wouldn't be violating your rights if it imposed religion on you.

But the Constitution also prohibits the establishment of a state religion.

Like it or not, EVERYONE in the U.S. has been assigned a religion. Either by themselves or the government. Those who profess no religion at all or denounce all religion are assigned to be athiests/secularists/humanists. The Supreme Court has determined that athiesm is a "religion" and therefore protected by the First Amendment.

[Dataman]

The appropriately named Belial: No, I mean the school facilitating and excusing kids for a field trip centered around some fundie dogma...that's BIZARRE.

I like to collect old history books and books that illustrate how Christianity was part of the normal school day before 1960. Last week end I found a book called Magic Melodies for Public Schools by L.M. Gordon, copyright 1892. The original price of the hardcover was 30 cents. On page 29 there is a song called Morning Praise which begins like this:

God of my life, my morning song To Thee I cheerful raise,

It is followed by a song, Hear Us, Holy Jesus and later there is Evening Song:

Let us look to God above, To bless us as we go.

Although there are only 3 songs out of 95 that seem to be overtly acknowledging God, it is more concrete proof that the secularist view of "separation of church and state" is of recent manufacture.

[DeathfromBelow]

"The bottom line here is these Christians, like fundamentalists of any religion, want EVERYONE to convert to their set of beliefs. In case you've forgotten your history, there are reasons we have limited the reach of these fanatics. "

Oh excuse us Herr Fuhrer, didn't realize we were going to "holocaust" the Christians too.

[f.Christian]

The GOD of the Old and New Testaments claims that HE inhabits eternity, and that there is no God before HIM.

HE also explains that HE created all that there is.

An Entity that is capable of creating the universe around us, and has the power to propel a galaxy 200,000 miles per hour, probably doesn't expect us to put HIM in a neat little box that we can completely understand (( bury )) * * .

For HIS clear and simple message relating to this, try the Book of Job. You will get HIS perspective on your question.

P.S. The Book of Job, thought by most theologians to be the oldest Book of the Bible, has been acknowledged by literary scholars as one of the finest pieces of literature to date.


256 posted on 04/28/2003 5:10 PM PDT by bondserv

... * * ... my addition !

[Blood of Tyrants]

Indeed. Forced neutrality in itself IS a form of atheism, a protected "religion".

[Belial]

Oh excuse us Herr Fuhrer, didn't realize we were going to "holocaust" the Christians too.

The only thing I took from your incoherent reply is that you too had nothing to offer beyond the cheesy Nazi canard.

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

freedom of religion doesn't mean a state run religion. It means you can worship rocks if you want to.

I fully agree. But that's freedom of religion, a close but separate issue. My question was about freedom from religion.

You stated there is no freedom from religion. In that case, it would seem that the government wouldn't be violating your rights if it imposed religion on you.

No offense, but that is some convoluted logic. You understand that the only thing the much misquoted Amendment I refers to is; Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

So there is no chance or reason to ever fear that happening, if you were serious.

[f.Christian]

To: DWPittelli

You're missing the point. The whole idea of individual liberty is rooted in rebellion, in the idea that "No one has the right to tell me what to do!". Evil began when Lucifer cried out his eternal non serviam to God in Heaven, and to this day human beings follow in his footsteps, refusing to submit their own wills to any authority.

Rebellion is pandemic in our society; everywhere, people cry out for freedom from Church, State, parents, teachers, or anything else that denies them the satiation of the senses or the deification of the Self. The worship of the goddess Liberty has become our national cult; piety towards our Creator and loyalty towards our ancestors (i.e. traditionalism) have been cast aside by our culture. Confronted with the majesty of God and His Law, we turn instead to the worship of the golden calf of that makes us happy -- our own selves. But there is no happiness there. There is no freedom there. There is only us, enslaved to our nerve endings for all eternity.

The freedom promised by this world is an illusion. Every man who "liberates" himselves from the Yoke of God only chains himself to the millstone of his own desires. The way of Self, as both Our Lord and the Buddha pointed out, is the most abject slavery of all. Only by dying to Self -- by renouncing the illusion of individual liberty and submitting our wills to God -- can we hope to live. In a very real sense, the only way to be free is to become a slave of Christ. "He that loses his life for My sake shall find it."

Only by acknowledging Jesus Christ as our LORD -- not our buddy or our peer but as our absolute Master -- can we ever be free. Christianity is a religion of humilty, not pride; of submission, not of independence. Only by throwing away our pride, by humbling ourselves before God and the authorities he institutes here on Earth (even when it hurts!), and by dedicating ourselves to obedience, order, and our duty can we ever cast of the shackles of unquenchable desire and truly be free.

"Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty."

23 posted on 05/01/2003 1:40 PM PDT by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)

[DeathfromBelow]

The only cheese around here is your BIZZAAARRRE thoughts that Christians are a bunch of fanatics. Yours posts are more fanatical than necessary, and obviously prejudicial.

So eat some cheese and lighten up before the moose bites you in the ...

[Michael.SF.]

but to me, Blood of Tyrants and Michael sounded like they thought it was appropriate to have a free-for-all in the school, with pagans being a particularly suitable target

I am at a loss to understand how you could have interpreted my comment to actally condone the 'picking on' of children ('harrassemnt' sounds so PC).

Kids will be kids and they will be picked on, especially if you give them a reason. Me? I was 13, first day at a new school and was overweight. I got picked on and it stopped right after my first fight, one which I did not win, but let's call it a 12 round split decision.

What I did not do, was cry to my parents and then seek a court decision to charge the school with intolerance to those who were "Calorically over enhanced."

Now what the mother might have said, to her young pagan daughter, could have gone like this:

"India, not all people believe as we do and we need to understand that they might not be accepting of our life force-earth-circle ritual nor of our rite of 'Fluffy the Bunny Goddess.'

"So rather then talk of us as being Pagan's, lets just be tolerent of their bizzarre behavior, like worshiping a man being tortured, or their attempted drowning of those who want to be a part of their sect. We need to practice what are earth priestesses preach, after all."

[freeeee]

Like it or not, EVERYONE in the U.S. has been assigned a religion... The Supreme Court has determined that athiesm is a "religion" and therefore protected by the First Amendment.

I suppose they could pass judgment that proclaimed the sky red, too. Wouldn't make a difference to what it really is.

I think we have come to the distinction of the 'strong' atheist vs. the 'weak' atheist.

The 'strong' atheist believes there is no god. I suppose you could call that a religion.

The 'weak' atheist lacks belief in a god. That by definition is the lack of religion, no matter how many laws or courts say otherwise.

[Blood of Tyrants]

You are undoubtedly right. It is people like that jerk who opposed to his daughter saying "under God" and brought up a lawsuit in her name yet wasn't even the custodial parent and the daughter herself was a Christian who like to make trouble for others.

IMO, the ACLU isn't so much athiest as anti-Christian as witnessed by their lack of lawsuits against the California schools who encourage children to take Islamic names, learn the five pillars of Islam, make pretend pilgrimages to Mecca, etc.

[Gee Wally]

District officials say the crusade, now in its sixth year, is like any other field trip, with parental permission required to let the children attend for two hours a day over three days. On the crusade's final day this year, April 30, more than 1,300 of the school system's 3,000 students attended.

The Tracys took India out of school on Feb. 26, 2002.

This article is so poorly researched, written or edited, it's hard to know what's really going on here. The writer is plainly trying to link the evangelical crusade to the harassment of the student, but the crusade didn't take place until more than a year after the girl was taken out of the school (if you believe the dates are correct in the article). Even if it was 2003 when the girl was taken out of school, it was still more than 2 months before the crusade. How did an evangelical crusade that had not yet occurred contribute to the harassment? Unless they are talking about last year's crusade, or the year before that. In any event, it seems these people are just out to get rid of the voluntary evangelical crusade and will contort the facts to suit their purpose.

[freeeee]

Forced neutrality in itself IS a form of atheism, a protected "religion"

I'm unsure what you mean here: Forced neutrality. Who is being forced? The state? Or do you mean individuals? If the state forces any religious preference or non-preference on an individual, then it is by definition not neutral.

Could you further explain what you meant?

[Tax-chick]

I misunderstood you, that's all. It happens. Have a nice day!

[jimt]

No, clearly the government should be sponsoring religious events to counteract the horrible influences in society today. Free Bibles as you come into town ! Mandatory prayer at every stoplight and crosswalk. McDonalds required to deliver a tract and a blessing with every Happy Meal, so as to make them really happy meals. Every business transaction ended with either "Praise the Lord" or "In Jesus' Name". First period in all schools to consist of mandatory prayer; a sermon by a recognized Christian religious authority, like Jerry Falwell; and mandatory witnessing.

After all, the community should decide, shouldn't it?

[f.Christian]

What evolutionists are doing ...

is using conservative scientific rhetoric to force teach liberal tyranny (( satanism // atheism )) ---

a bolshevic monopoly to persecute theists (( true conservatives )) !

[Blood of Tyrants]

Forced neutrality of the state, particularly schools in more liberal area, is more anti-religion that truly neutral.

Therefore when you allow/require the schools to deny the free practice of religion (and this is the norm in many schools) you are effectively adopting the stance that the only "religion" that will be accepted is of no religion which is in effect atheism.

Like I have been telling you, atheism is a protected religion. Otherwise employers would be allowed to discriminate against you for your non-belief.

[Blood of Tyrants]

P.S. Forced neutrality of the state, the teachers, the principals, and the students.....