so... give the athiest's a bench that says NOBODY LOVES YOU!!!
Posted on 08/02/2005 11:49:31 AM PDT by THE person involved
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
School says bench stays where it is By Candice Cunningham
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
MARIETTA - Despite one parent's questions about its "overtly religious" content and a possible constitutional violation, Marietta City Schools officials say they have no plans to remove a bench from the Marietta High School campus inscribed with the words "Jesus Loves You!"
Marietta Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck said in a response letter to parent David Bernknopf on Friday that the bench would stay.
"On the advice of legal counsel, there are no plans to do anything regarding the bench," Dr. Lembeck stated.
Dr. Lembeck and the school system's attorney, Clem Doyle, were unavailable for further comment Monday.
Bernknopf, a former CNN producer and media consultant whose son and daughter attend nearby A.L. Burruss Elementary, sent a letter to school system officials last month questioning whether the bench's message was "overtly religious." He sent a letter to school officials asking them to investigate whether it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which calls for separation of church and state.
On Monday, however, Bernknopf said he never intended to take the matter to court and plans to take no further action.
"I certainly never had any interest in filing a complaint or filing a lawsuit," he said. "Obviously, I thought it was questionable."
After receiving Dr. Lembeck's response, he said he is not interested in pursuing the issue. Any future challenge to the bench, he said, could be left to constitutional experts.
Smyrna resident Ed Buckner, secretary of the local chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the bench message clearly violates state and federal Supreme Court law, which regulates religious content on public property.
"It implies to anyone who sees it that the government is endorsing that particular point of view," he said.
He said the school should remove the bench or face the potential of a costly lawsuit.
"I think they'll move it," he said. "I think it may require court action to do it, but I think they'll move it."
Buckner said his group was not planning to file a suit but said the school system is leaving itself open for other groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, to do so.
"It's a bad idea to get into the business of which religion is right and which is wrong," he said. "In that lies madness."
"What if the Atlanta Freethought Society wanted to put up a bench that said, 'There is no God?'" Buckner added. "Do you think they'd say 'Yes?' I don't."
Marietta school board Chairwoman Irene Berens said the law governing such issues is vague.
"The Supreme Court didn't give us much guidance," she said. "They seem willing to look at it on a case-by-case basis, which puts us in a difficult situation as far as interpretation."
Just last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two divergent rulings relating to displays of the Ten Commandments at courthouses in Kentucky and Texas.
Berens said she was satisfied with the legal advice provided by Doyle.
He researched legal opinions and consulted with state school board attorneys, the Gainesville-based Harbin and Hartley firm, before returning his decision, she said.
Bernknopf said that Dr. Lembeck's three-paragraph letter was brief and did not clarify whether the bench is currently violating the law.
"It would've been nice to have more detail," he said.
For now, district spokesman Bill Doughty said the bench would stay where it is because no one has specifically asked the school to remove it.
If a formal request were made, he said, school officials would need to reconsider the issue.
The bench, located outside the high school's cafeteria and near the school bus drop off area, was installed in 2001, Doughty said. Private donations from the school's PTA paid for it as part of a large fund-raising campaign conducted before the new Whitlock Avenue school was built.
Other benches are placed on local school campuses bearing messages that include the names of local businesses and the names of deceased loved ones.
The school system does not have a policy regulating the content inscribed on school structures and school officials do not have plans to consider such a policy, Doughty said.
Berens said the school system tries to keep its policies to a minimum.
"You cannot have a policy to address every contingency that might happen," she said.
School board member Annette Lewis said Bernknopf raised a legitimate question that was aimed at protecting the school from fighting a costly legal battle.
"If I had seen the bench there, I would have asked the question," she said. "It was a legitimate question and one the school system wanted to wait and get a legal opinion on."
Although Bernknopf might not have gotten the response he wanted, he indicated that his efforts were not for naught.
"An informal debate on a topic of this nature is always beneficial," he said.
Copyright © 2005 Marietta Daily Journal. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and Registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
I am just a citizen trying to raise a question of my elected officials, help keep my school district out of trouble, and prevent my tax dollars being wasted.
Why would this bench be any different than one where it says "Fred loves you."?......There are lots of people named Jesus......
Do you have a direct link?
Thanks
Reckon Jesus is the gardener?
Ahh...got to love the media and the media hacks.
If this was trying to be resolved quietly, Mr Troll, how did the press and Atheists find out about it?
You fit in well at CNN.
That's what I was thinking. They'll leave you alone if you just tell them it's an expression of gay love.
Picking at the scab will make it bleed. You are a scab-picker. your CNN bias has not left you and you knew that the ACLU and other Communist organizations would bear this cross for you. ALL PUN INTENDED.
And you come here to "explain" yourself?
Was the bench placed on the school grounds by an act of congress? No.
Does the bench compel anyone to subscribe to a particular religious belief? No.
Was the content of the message developed and placed on the bench and funded by a party other than the school and/or school district? Yes.
Are other benches allowed on the school grounds with other messages, with content that is developed by someone other than the school and/or school district? Yes.
Welcome to Free Republic.
Any future challenge to the bench, he said, could be left to constitutional experts.
He got it going by providing the needed publicity to bring it to the attention of the activists, now it's up to someone else to actually bring suit.
Must be a satisfying job to be a paragon of "moral clarity" and a do-gooder eager to protect us from any possible harm that an acknowledgement of religiosity might cause.
Why don't you do some real good and question liberal judges that keep putting pedophiles on the strrets to abuse and mutilate our kids? Or don't you think that they are as potentially harmful as a "Jesus Love You" statement?
asswipe
"I am just a citizen trying to raise a question of my elected officials, help keep my school district out of trouble, and prevent my tax dollars being wasted."
Signing in from Roswell, Georgia, I'd appreciate it if you'd find something else to do and quit wasting my state tax dollars - and our time.
now, now, be nice. :~)
He's gonna get what's due him anyway.
so... give the athiest's a bench that says NOBODY LOVES YOU!!!
BS
"What if the Atlanta Freethought Society wanted to put up a bench that said, 'There is no God?'" Buckner added
That would be intolerant. A bench that says "Jesus loves you" does not imply anything against anyone.
how sad for all of you that when something doesn't fit into your preconceptions that you can't just admit you might have been a tad offbase.
but you are welcome to join my family at church and maybe you would find out how offbase you are.
oh...and I don't work at cnn...sorry about that one too
haven't for years.
oh...and I'm not a liberal, not an ACLU member..not...sorry...but I voted for our President.
I don't know why so many of you are so angry at a taxpayer raising a legitimate issue to an elected representative...something the school board is quoted as saying they appreciated.
it seems to me people on this board raise questions to and about elected officials and public policy all the time.
but if it makes you feel better to loose your anger on me, it's your right.
Mr. Bernknopf, I have years of experience in the PTA for two Atlanta schools. If you really wanted to help your school district, you could work to insure the playgrounds are safe, the bathrooms are clean, the PTA is supported.
Why, you could even volunteer in the library or in the office to relieve the teachers who, I am sure, work very hard for the little money they earn.
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.
Is a religion being singled out by government? No? You say it was a private individual? Then what's the problem?
You just know he is a transplant or a halfback.
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