Posted on 04/30/2003 11:03:05 AM PDT by Remedy
A teacher's aide in Pennsylvania plans to sue her employer over its decision to give her a one-year suspension for wearing a cross necklace to school.
ARIN Intermediate Unit 28, an educational service agency located in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, claims Brenda Nichol's unwillingness to remove her cross is a violation of its policy prohibiting teachers from wearing religious items.
Nichol was informed on March 11, and again on March 20, that if she did not remove the cross, she would lose her job pursuant to ARIN regulations.
Vince McCarthy with the American Center for Law and Justice is Nichol's attorney. He says his client felt she was being asked to renounce her Savior.
"[Nichol] explained to her superior that what they were asking her to do was like asking her to remove her wedding rings; that the cross to her is a symbol of love, and that she belongs to Jesus," McCarthy says. "She felt as though they were asking her to deny Christ. They responded that they didn't care, but that she would be suspended from her job, which she ultimately was."
A WorldNetDaily article points out that crosses and Stars of David are examples of the types of jewelry prohibited under Pennsylvania's state law governing public schools, according to Dr. Robert H. Coad Jr., who is executive director of ARIN.
"I am doing a lot of praying at this time," Nichol told the Indiana Gazette. "I think the public needs to know that there is a code out there that is against our freedom."
McCarthy says the policy clearly abridges Nichol's rights under the First Amendment. "The policy violates her constitutional rights to free speech and free exercise of religion," he says. "We're going to ask for injunctive relief or [a] preliminary injunction putting her back in her job pending the completion of this case."
The lawsuit will be filed in federal district court at the end of this week, says McCarthy.
On September 29, 1999, House Majority Leader Dick Armey spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Commenting on America as "the unchallenged superpower in the world," he expressed serious concerns about the treatment of conservative Christians in the United States.
"Tonight I regret to say that one area where we're losing ground is our treatment of religious believers. We are witnessing a rising level of bigotry against people of faith; especially Christians."
Representative Armey then cited an extensive list of cases related to out-and-out persecution of Christians and denial of their basic rights. One of the most telling examples involves the federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention, which funds a middle school curriculum that is unequivocally hostile to people of faith. It provides school counselors with "warning signs" to help them identify a child who might pose a danger to society. One of the signs, said Armey, "is if he or she grows up in a 'very religious' home. This without one shred of evidence showing linkage between Christians and any of these terrible acts of violence that our nation has faced."
Armey concluded by saying, "In case after case, people of faith are told to mind their own business, keep to themselves and stay out of the affairs of the rest of society. People of faith are called extremists, labeled out and out threats to our nation and generally find 'Not Welcome Here' signs all over the place."
Congressman Armey's remarks emphasize the fact that we have clearly entered a period when we are beginning to reap what the nation has sown for decades. Producers and scriptwriters in the motion picture and television industries have passionately hammered away at discrediting traditional Judeo-Christian values. Pastors are almost consistently depicted as bigoted buffoons, while disreputable characters elicit sympathy and, in the end, walk off as the winners. Dysfunctional families have become the norm; fathers are scorned, responsible mothers put down. Only "partners" who descend to the level of their immature teenaged offspring are portrayed as desirable influences. In his book A Jewish Conservative Looks at Pagan America (Huntington House), columnist Don Feder comments on Hollywood's brand of prejudice:
"Christians are the only group Hollywood can offend with impunity, the only creed it actually goes out of its way to insult. Clerics, from fundamentalist preachers to Catholic monks, are routinely represented as hypocrites, hucksters, sadists and lechers. The tenets of Christianity are regularly held up to ridicule."
Missionaries have long been denounced as public enemy number one for their attempts to reach tribal people with the gospel and to help them physically and spiritually. On the other hand, the native tribes, living in squalor and medical deprivation, are portrayed as superior beings who should be left undisturbed in the jungles, despite the fact this means they probably will die in their thirties or earlier, plagued by sickness, superstition, and malnutrition. In this twisted world we live in, we need only look to our classrooms in America to see jungle life of another kind. We have denounced God and banished Him from our schools. An "anything goes" attitude, which is too often the norm among secular educators, has yielded a crop of out-of-control bullies who beat and sometimes kill innocent children and who arrogantly roam the schools, pushing drugs in the hallways and on the playgrounds. In many instances, the only thing students are not allowed to do is mention their faith, particularly if Jesus Christ is central to it.
A U.S. District Court judge in Texas has gone so far as to rule that any student mentioning the name of Jesus in a graduation prayer will be sentenced to six months in jail.
In an address to the Christian Coalition, Alan Keyes, a conservative Republican and recent presidential candidate, said, "Where do we find the most persecuted Christians in the world? ...in the classrooms of our government schools, where the assault is not on the body, but the soul."
In public life, we are often subjected to the same spiritual and moral slander. Placing the Ten Commandments in a public building or erecting a manger scene in a town square brings down the wrath of anti-Christian lobbyists who have virtually become the most catered-to minority in American society.
Last December the Southern Baptists announced they were launching a missionary effort to expose Hindus, Jewish people, and Muslims to the message of the Gospel. Protests from some members of the groups brought a scathing rebuke from the president's press secretary, Joe Lockhart, whose reply was reported in The Washington Times. Speaking on behalf of President Clinton, Lockhart said:
"I think the president's made very clear his view... on religious tolerance and how one of the greatest challenges going into the next century is dealing with intolerance, dealing with ethnic and religious hatred and coming to grips with long-held resentments between religions. So I think he's been very clear in his opposition to whatever organization, including Southern Baptists, that perpetuate ancient religious hatred."
So much for the traditional freedom to evangelize. Sadly, educators, public officials, and biblically devout people who attempt to make a constructive difference in society and raise citizens to a higher level of decency and civility are shouted down or ruled out of order by judges and officials pandering to self-indulgent radicals and hedonists.
A defining statement reflecting the spirit of the times was made by CNN media mogul Ted Turner in an interview published in the National Review, June 8, 1992. Mr. Turner was quoted as having said, "Over-population is the cause of drive-by shootings and other social ills, but the root of the problem is Christianity, which posits that people are more important than sea otters and elephants." Turner has also been quoted as saying, "Christianity is a religion for losers."
Turner, who has said he made a profession of faith during a Billy Graham meeting but later renounced Christianity, has since apologized for such remarks. His statements, however, reflect the fundamental humanist idea that, in reality, human beings are but refined primates operating on their own, without the need of assistance from a divine being.
In such a rejectionist cultural environment, the question, sooner or later, must become what to do with those who are believers and are, therefore, hindering the progress of an enlightened, secular global world order.
The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
The persecution of believers worldwide has reached a serious crisis point, and we can no longer afford to remain passive in the face of this ominous trend-which is becoming more and more evident even in our own country. In PERSECUTED, Elwood McQuaid shares many eye-opening facts and real-life accounts as he touches on these urgent questions:
-Who around the world is being persecuted, and how?
-Are intimidation and persecution of Christians taking place in North America?
-How can we help our brothers and sisters abroad-and ultimately ourselves?
Through prayer and action, you can make a difference for the cause of Christ and respond effectively to the intolerance experienced by Christians today.
NO CROSSES IN PA!
Let's see how this works:
"XXXXXX explained to her superior that what they were asking her to was like asking her to remove her wedding rings; that her pentagram to her is a symbol of love, and that she belongs to Satan," XXXXX says. "She felt as though they were asking her to deny Lucifer."
No religious symbols, of any kind, is a pretty sound policy, it seems to me.
Besides, Jesus told us not to flout ourselves; when we wanted to pray to Him we should go in private to do so.
This lawsuit is just more flouting.
Sounds like a personal battle with on site administration over something much different than a cross. The cross is the technical excuse.
How about:
"XXXXXX explained to her superior that what they were asking her to remove her Bling-bling was like asking her to remove her wedding rings; that her pot emblem to her is a symbol of love, and that she was a Rastafarian," XXXXX says. "She felt as though they were asking her to deny her beliefs."
I agree totally. If you want seperation of Church and state, make the seperation complete. As it is, it looks like she's 'showboating' how religous she is. The age old 'martyr' ploy ... she how she's suffering for her beliefs...
I doubt she'll get anywhere with Red Tape Rendell as gov. The fact that he was elected in the first place shows that the core values of most of Pennsylvania have changed from traditions of church, family, home and the right to property and self defense to a bunch of mewling union thugs mindlessly following the party line of whatever democrat they're told to elect. The automatons who voted for him knew he was more corrupt than Rizzo before he was elected.
That's a big part of the reason Hubby wants to move to Texas.
Or - xxx was told to take off her weeding ring because "they" thought it might give the wrong message to gays/lesbians...
Trying to "protect" people from things you disagree with adds up to (and leads to) censureship on more and more things. Carrying a symbol of your faith/belief/religious orientation is far different than trying to cram it down someone else's throat. Those that try to deny you the freedom are the ones doing the cramming. If kids are exposed to more and get to understand that not everyone feels/believes the same things, they are more prepared for the real world and don't grow up thinking that because a rare instance of something can be "bad" that we ought to squash ALL instances of it.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
I guess its only valid to make no laws respecting a religon but not to keep people from freely excersising their own... No dobut a Manson T-shirt is allowed...
He will lose the lawsuit, and I hope he loses his job, and the school district pays through the nose.
If so, you're consistent.
I'd just as soon not to have the hassle. School should be about education, not personal agendas.
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.