If they won't let her use "God Bless America," I can see why she would not want to use "Proud To Be An American."How can you be proud of this PC BS? Time to get back to the basics America!!!
Posted on 05/06/2002 4:17:35 PM PDT by Michael2001
A 12-year-old Rock Island girl will be in federal court today to prevent her grade school from printing her winning yearbook cover design without the words she wanted: “God Bless America.”
The original, winning entry by Marissa De La Rosa included that phrase, but the school made her erase those words and replace them with “Proud to be
an American” after being told she had won, according to a lawsuit.
Marissa and
her father, Joseph De La Rosa, filed the suit in U.S. District Court, Rock Island, against the Rock Island-Milan School District, Ridgewood Elementary School Principal John Frieden and an unnamed school nurse.
She is asking today for a temporary restraining order to prevent the school from printing the yearbook.
“I want the school to publish my original design with ‘God Bless America’ in it instead,” Marissa, who attends sixth grade, said in a statement filed with the lawsuit. “I do not think it was right for the school to make me change my design.”
The Quad-City Times was unable to contact Marissa, her father or their attorney for comment Monday.
An attorney for the school system, in letters to Marissa’s attorney filed along with the lawsuit, said he would “vigorously defend the district.”
Allowing “God Bless America” on the cover of a public school yearbook would be “tantamount to the state sponsorship of religion, which is forbidden,” Eric Schwarz wrote in the letters. In addition, one student does not have the right to dictate what is to be placed on a yearbook cover that would be distributed to all students, he wrote.
The school district, he said, would agree to substitute another student’s work on the yearbook cover if Marissa does not want the modified version printed.
Marissa’s teacher announced during the week of April 1 that the school was holding a contest to see which student could come up with the best design for the yearbook, according to the lawsuit.
Her design included the slogan made popular by the Irving Berlin song, “God Bless America,” court documents state. “Marissa chose the slogan because she felt it in her heart,” the court papers continue.
It is believed the entries were judged by teachers. Marissa’s was selected as the school-wide winner.
Marissa and her father, Joseph De La Rosa, were in the school office April 4, waiting to see Principal John Frieden, court documents state. Marissa was going to be gone from school for a week to attend her sister’s wedding in Florida, and her father wanted to talk with the principal about the absence. The school secretary then told Marissa her design had won the contest.
“But then she told me that I would have to erase the slogan, ‘God Bless America,’ and replace it with the slogan, ‘Proud to be an American,’ ” according to court papers.
De La Rosa “immediately objected,” the lawsuit states. A few minutes later, the school nurse came and asked Marissa if she could follow her into another room. The nurse told her to change the phrase, according to court papers.
“I did not answer the nurse, but I did just what I was told. I believed that I had to, because the school nurse told me to do it,” Marissa said in her sworn statement. “Besides, I was new at the school, and I did not know the nurse very well, and she was an adult. I try to do what I am told to do by adults when I am at school.”
De La Rosa said he requested copies of his daughter’s original design and the changed design before leaving the school. The nurse and the secretary, he said in a statement, said they personally agreed with him, “but that because they were a public school, they could not have a cover that had the world ‘God’ on it.”
Mr. Schwartz, state sponsored religion implies that the state gains financial controls of a particular church, and the church is exempt from certain taxes that all other churches must pay. This is clearly not the case.
BULLSHAT COMMUNISTIC BASTAGES
If they won't let her use "God Bless America," I can see why she would not want to use "Proud To Be An American."How can you be proud of this PC BS? Time to get back to the basics America!!!
I am an atheist, actually, but the country is based on God, blessing America. Stupid commies.
I am proud that we still produce kids like this, however.
Fight on!
But establishing the religion of Sodom and Gomorrah is fine. Some folks want God to curse their country.
Really, Mr. Schwarz? Which one? Which religion would this be "tantamount" to supporting? Name it.
How ironic, and very funny!
“I did not answer the nurse, but I did just what I was told. I believed that I had to, because the school nurse told me to do it,” Marissa said in her sworn statement. “Besides, I was new at the school, and I did not know the nurse very well, and she was an adult. I try to do what I am told to do by adults when I am at school.”
"De La Rosa said he requested copies of his daughter’s original design and the changed design before leaving the school. The nurse and the secretary, he said in a statement, said they personally agreed with him, “but that because they were a public school, they could not have a cover that had the world ‘God’ on it.”"
This is one for Jay Sekulow and the ACLJ!
If 'right minded people' don't start 'winning' little battles, they will never get around to fighting BIG ones, IMHO.
I am sick and tired of 'pagan' religions being taught in public schools under the guise of multi-culturalism.
Deism.
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