Posted on 10/09/2002 5:21:45 PM PDT by RCW2001
By Robert B. Bluey
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 09, 2002
(CNSNews.com) - The Anti-Defamation League is accusing an evangelical Christian group of using manipulative tactics in public schools to lure unsuspecting students to their faith.
The ADL, according to a spokesman, is ready to mount a nationwide campaign to expose the tactics used by the increasingly popular anti-violence group known as Rage Against Destruction.
Joel J. Levy, regional director of the ADL's New York chapter, said the program presented during the school day is masked as an anti-violence initiative, when in fact it is actually the stepping-stone to a free off-campus evangelical-themed concert.
"This group is concealing its actual identity," Levy said. "They present themselves to schools as an anti-violence program done in an attractive and effective way. It is a deceptive program in which Rage Against Destruction conceals its true identity."
Rage Against Destruction launched its tour of the New York and New Jersey region on Monday, visiting students at a New York City middle school for a 45-minute anti-violence presentation. Members of the group then traveled to Belleville, N.J., Tuesday for another discussion with students.
The Firefest concert, with its religious themes, concerns Levy the most because Rage members promote the concert during their conversations with students on school property. The concert is scheduled for Oct. 20 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan.
The concerns expressed by Levy were a surprise to Mark Sutherland, spokesman for Rage Against Destruction. He said Levy has misinterpreted the meaning of the program and the concert.
"When we go to schools, we are just trying to present a community service to the public," Sutherland said. "We're seeing in the schools that we go to that violence and negative issues decrease."
Sutherland acknowledged that the Firefest concert might use some religious undertones in addressing many possible solutions to violence.
Even the group that funds the youth outreach effort, Joyce Meyer Ministries of Fenton, Mo., says on its website, "This free, off-campus Christian concert is a powerful evangelistic tool, offering the life-changing message of the Gospel."
But it is unfair to compare what Rage Against Destruction does during the school day with what takes place at a concert held on the weekend at a location off school grounds, Sutherland said. Besides, he added, the concert is meant to showcase ideas about ending violence.
"Firefest is designed to bring schools together from various backgrounds and different parts of the city to have a party," he said. "I'm assuming the Anti-Defamation League has issues with our singer Pigeon John. In some of his lyrics are references to Christianity.
"We present the students with any solution that we think will work," Sutherland continued. "We have found that students who are involved in organized religion are less likely to be involved in negative lifestyles. The violence statistics are incredibly less for those who are involved in organized religion."
If students attend a church or a synagogue or become active in a youth group, Sutherland said they are less likely to act out violent episodes. For that reason alone, he said, it makes sense to share those ideas with students.
Levy said he does not have a problem with Rage Against Destruction hosting the Firefest concert for students. Rather, he is troubled by the potential constitutional violation presented by the group's interaction with public schools.
"It is quite clear that the purpose of the whole thing is to proselytize," Levy said. "They are doing something that is probably a violation of the Establishment Clause, and obviously it would have to be pursued in the courts to determine that, but that's the way we view it."
During the two weeks Rage Against Destruction spends in cities, traveling from school to school, Sutherland said the group offers students gifts ranging from T-shirts to Sony PlayStations. In total, the program has reached 250,000 students in more than 200 schools across the country, he said. It costs $15,000 per day to put on the program.
The ADL has notified the New York City Department of Education about its concerns. Officials at the school district did not return phone calls.
Next month Rage Against Destruction will head to the St. Louis area, where it will spend two weeks traveling to schools and conclude its stay with the Firefest concert.
Karen Aroesty, regional director of the ADL's Southern Illinois and Missouri chapter, has already contacted school superintendents in the St. Louis region about her concerns with the program. Like Levy, she said she was also bothered by the program's alleged misrepresentation.
"The anti-violence message is part of an overall scheme to get people to Firefest, which is clearly evangelical," Aroesty said. "If they are misrepresenting themselves to the schools, I have a problem with that."
Hey, ADL, seems to me you have more pressing matters to attend to. Try reading the paper.
It's about time for them to go out of business.
Are you serious? Jews discrediting Jews?
Separation of Church and State means the government cannot intrude on Church issues , not that the government can be used to squelch Christian issues by another religeous group.
But like the UN the ADL was created with a purpose , an unAmerican purpose.
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