According to The Journal Times, Nathan said the principal told him "in a nice way" to stop talking about religion during class and "to keep it to lunch and out of school."10 The principal said he might offend somebody, and they might start a fight with him. "The last thing we want," Nathan said she told him, "is for you to get into a fight about God."
Nathan, who attends a local Assembly of God church, said he was encouraged by his youth pastor to carry his Bible wherever he goes, and he's more than happy to speak with other students about religion. "The atheist people, they try ganging up on you all the time," he told the newspaper. "They make the rudest comments."
His private comments about Christianity led to his trip to the principal's office. The school district said students are allowed to carry Bibles but are not allowed to be disruptive. Nathan said he was in no way disruptive.
Thou Shalt Not Pray
A group of elderly residents at a Dallas public housing project have been ordered by the government to shut down their church. The Dallas Housing Authority said the services violate the U.S. Constitution and the agency's contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"It's all federal money, so we're subject to constitutional prohibitions," DHA president MaryAnn Russ told The Dallas Morning News. "It's like prayer in public schools. It's the same deal."11
But a HUD spokesman said the Fair Housing Act does not prohibit religious activity in common areas of public housing.
My goodness, the Lake Highlands United Methodist Church has been conducting the worship services at the housing project for about fourteen years. Many of those attending are elderly and unable to drive to other churches.
"It's just something we will miss terribly," eighty-four-year-old Myrna Hardy told the newspaper. "It's like putting a big hole in our lives."
A similar tradition came to an end in Port Wentworth, Georgia, too. Senior citizens who eat their meals at the local senior center were ordered to stop praying over the food. Instead, the elderly were told they could only take part in a moment of silence.
The meals are provided by a group called Senior Citizens, Inc. Officials said they are just following guidelines determined by the federal government.
Tim Rutherford, a vice president of the organization, told WSB-TV that since the meals are mostly funded by tax dollars, there's a separation of church-state issue at play. "We can't scoff at their rules," he told the television station. "It's part of the operational guidelines."12
Rutherford stressed they weren't forbidding people to pray—just out loud. "We're asking them to pray to themselves," he told WSB. "Have that moment of silence."
As you might imagine, folks in Port Wentworth, located in the heart of the Bible Belt, are outraged.
Mayor Glenn "Pig" Jones had to deliver the news to the elderly residents of his town, calling it one of the hardest things he's ever had to do. "For me to look at their eyes and tell them they can't thank God for their food—it's unheard of—I can't take it,"13 he told the Savannah Morning News.
As one elderly lady said, the government may be able to stop her from speaking, but they can't stop her from praying what's in her heart.
University Says Christianity Is Oppressive
More than two dozen Christian students at the University of California at Davis have filed a formal complaint over a university policy that defines religious discrimination as Christians oppressing non-Christians. The definition is listed in a document called "The Principles of Community." It defines "Religious/Spiritual Discrimination" as "the loss of power and privilege to those who do not practice the dominant culture's religion. In the United States, this is institutionalized oppressions toward those who are not Christian."
"This is radical political correctness run amok," said David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. The conservative advocacy group has written a letter on behalf of more than twenty-five students who object to the policy and want it revised. He said it's absurd to single out Christians as oppressors and non-Christians as the only oppressed people on campus.
"Christians deserve the same protections against religious discrimination as any other students on a public university campus," French told me. "The idea that a university would discriminate against Christians is an old story, unfortunately, and one that we see played out every day."
One student, who asked not to be identified, said university officials asked her to reaffirm "The Principles of Community" last semester. She refused to do so when she realized Christians were not protected under the policy.
"To have a nondiscrimination policy that excludes the Christian faith is a cause for action," she said. "In higher academia, one would hope that a diversity of ideas and beliefs would be appreciated. But my experience has been that this has not always been the case. There is a real fear of bias against the Christian faith."
French said all students who complained are fearful of backlash if their identities became known.
"This was amazing to actually enshrine in your nondiscrimination statement—discrimination against Christians," he said. "This is a symbol of the seeming impunity in which universities violate the law to establish a radical, secular-left agenda."
Alan Brownstein, a law professor at UC-Davis, said the campus has a generally open and tolerant view of religion. "It's a university campus," he said. "There is robust debate and people will disagree on just about everything."
Brownstein, who is a nationally known constitutional scholar, said any legal challenges to the policy would depend on whether it's a binding document.
"Clearly, if you had an enforceable regulatory policy that said, 'We will discipline Christians who oppress non-Christians, but we will not impose the same kind of disciplinary sanctions on non-Christians who engage in the same kind of harassing behavior against Christians,' that would be unacceptable and subject to legal challenge."
Regardless, Brownstein said it might have been more appropriate to use less specific language in the policy. "It's always preferable to be as general as you can when you describe these kinds of unacceptable behaviors," he said.
Vets Defy Order to Remove Christian Flag
A Christian flag is once again flying at a Veteran's Memorial in King, North Carolina, in defiance of a decision made by town leaders facing a possible lawsuit. A group of military veterans erected the flag on a temporary stand and have vowed to stand guard twenty-four hours a day, daring anyone to try to take it down.
"It's gonna stay here as long as I can stand," said Ray Martini in an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal. "We're going to stand watch and guard it twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week."14
The King Police Department said the group can keep the flag at the memorial but only if someone is with the flag at all times.
"I refuse to let a few turn around and try to desecrate our intensive fighting and defending of America by taking down what the majority love," Martini told WGHP-TV. "If you don't like what we've done here, then just don't come."15
The decision to remove the flag stems from estimates that it could cost the city as much as $300,000 to fight a possible lawsuit from the ACLU. The controversy started when an Afghanistan war veteran complained about the Christian flag being flown at the memorial.
City officials took it down on the advice of their attorney, who said it violated the First Amendment. The city had also received letters from several advocacy groups threatening lawsuits; among those groups was Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. "They have done the right thing," executive director Barry Lynn told the newspaper. "It would be unfortunate if they reversed their decision."
After the flag was removed, the same veteran demanded the city remove a cross from another monument showing a soldier kneeling next to a grave.
"We aren't going to lay down for this," Jim Rasmond told the newspap
er. "I don't believe in one person telling all of us what to do."
Meanwhile, Christian flag sales are booming. Several hundred have been sold in the small town, and local sentiment is overwhelmingly on the side of the Christian flag and cross.
"It is time for Christians to stand up to the ACLU and not be strong-armed by the ACLU," resident Michael Lane told the newspaper. "It is our constitutional right to fly a Christian flag on public or private property."
Professor Compares Crucifix to Swastika
Eastfield College is accused of suppressing the religious expression of students after a ceramics instructor compared the crucifix to a swastika and refused to allow students to create religious symbols.
"Unfortunately, not everyone has the Christmas spirit or even a basic understanding of religious freedom," Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute, said in a statement. "The government cannot ban crosses and religious symbols."
The controversy involves retired auto worker Joe Mitchell and Eastfield Community College in Mesquite, Texas. Since 2006, he has been enrolled in a noncredit ceramics class comprised mostly of retirees. During the spring class, Mitchell made a number of crosses for friends and fellow parishioners at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Church.
That's when he ran into trouble. According to court documents, a memorandum was sent to students forbidding them from creating any religious items including those representing Christmas and Easter.
"The making of such pieces at Eastfield College demeans the goals of the ceramic program at EFC," stated a memo written by James Watral, chair of the ceramics program.
Mitchell filed a complaint with the college, alleging they were discriminating against people of faith. The college apologized and offered an amended rule that prohibited replicas of religious items. But last fall Mitchell ran afoul of the school once again when an instructor questioned whether he would be creating any religiously themed work.
Here's what happened next, according to the Liberty Legal Institute: "Ms. Blackhurst then asked Mr. Mitchell if he considered a swastika offensive. He responded, 'Of course.' She then proceeded to compare the cross to a swastika. She stated that many individuals view the cross as an offensive symbol in the same way many people are offended by swastikas, and that his crosses would therefore not be fired by the department."
"I felt humiliated and that my spirituality was being demeaned," Mitchell said in a written statement. "The whole point of art is to express who you are."
"It appears the Eastfield College art department has no room in the inn for artistic religious expression such as that of Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci; hopefully they will change their minds," said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation at Liberty Legal Institute.
Third-Grader Barred from Reading Bible
A New Jersey third-grader broke down in tears after a teacher told the girl her Bible was not appropriate reading material for a public school. After a public uproar the principal of the school apologized to Mariah Jordat and told her it was all a misunderstanding.
Michelle Jordat said her daughter loves the Bible and was hurt when the teacher told her to pack away her Bible during quiet reading time. "This was injustice," she said. "No other child has to go through this again."
The school said the teacher made a mistake and that school policy does allow children to read the Bible or any other religious book during reading time.
Child Who Drew Jesus Ordered to See Shrink
A school superintendent in Taunton, Massachusetts, has been ordered to apologize to the family of an eight-year-old boy who was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation after drawing a picture of Jesus on a cross.
"The mayor is upset and angry," said Todd Castro, assistant to Mayor Charles Crowley. "He spoke with the super-intendent this morning and is looking for her to make a public apology and a private apology to the family."
According to the Taunton Daily Gazette, a boy at Maxham Elementary School was instructed to sketch something that reminded him of Christmas.16 The child had just returned from a visit to the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, so he drew a stick figure of Jesus on the cross.
The boy's father, who asked not to be identified, told the newspaper he received a call from the school telling him his son had created a violent drawing. "As far as I'm concerned, they're violating his religion," he said.
He was referred by a mutual friend to Toni Saunders, an educational consultant who helps children with special needs. "The father was so angry at what had happened to his son," she said. "It didn't make sense to him."
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, told me: "We're going to question the mental state of the child for simply drawing a picture of Christ crucified? There's something serious going on at this school."
Giving Kids Bibles Is Against the Law
Giving away Bibles to schoolchildren is unconstitutional. That's the law of the land in Wilson County, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. The school board was facing a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union over a longtime tradition.
Every year fifth-grade students were presented free Bibles from The Gideons International. The Gideons are based in Nashville and have been giving away pocket-sized copies of The New Testament, Proverbs, and Psalms for decades. Last year they distributed more than eleven million Bibles.
Boys and girls in Wilson County were not required to take the Bibles, but the parents of one child complained. They admit their daughter was not forced to accept the Bible, but the girl was afraid of being singled out for ridicule had she refused.
That's when the ACLU got involved. "Decisions about religion should be left in the hands of families and faith communities, not public school officials,"17 said ACLU attorney Edmund J. Schmidt III in an interview with The Tennessean.
The ACLU demanded the school district stop giving away Bibles on school grounds. To avoid a lawsuit, school officials were forced not only to ban God's Word but also to acknowledge that giving kids a Bible on school property is unconstitutional.
The ACLU of Tennessee hailed the ruling and said their goal is to protect the religious liberty of everyone. Everyone, it seems, except Christians.
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Dear Jesus, Will You Be My Facebook Friend?
I recently informed the family that I have taken up twittering. My Aunt Lynn immediately had me placed on the church prayer list.
I tried to explain to her that Twitter is an online form of social networking—a sort of microblog that condenses one's thoughts into 140-character nuggets. But she was not convinced and warned me God-fearing Christians should not Twitter, especially in public.
Sadly, she may have a point. It seems churches across the country have not only embraced technology but in some ways are worshipping technology. Don't get me wrong: technology is great. I love air-conditioning and electricity. I have a laptop and a Blackberry. It's how the church is using technology that is up for discussion. There's a cottage industry of sanctified software catering to Christians seeking a digital deity.
A growing number of megachurch pastors are beaming their faces into churches hundreds of miles away, in essence becoming binary bishops. These cyberspace shepherds tend to their flocks in virtual reality churches.
"We live in a day and age and a culture where people go to school online, bank online, date online, and do other things online," said Kurt Ervin, who oversees the Internet campus for Central Christian Church in Henderson, Nevada. "Why not create a platform for them to go to church online?"1
Consider the following:
•One of the largest churches in the country is online. LifeChurch.tv broadcasts more than two dozen online services each week. The services attract up to sixty thousand unique views a week.
•At Flamingo Road Church in Florida, viewers can accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Sa
vior by clicking a tab. "The goal is to not let people at home feel like they're watching what's happening, but they're part of it," Rev. Brian Vasil told the Associated Press. "They're participating."
•The folks at Information Age Prayer have launched a Web site that prays to a variety of deities. For a monthly fee the company will arrange for a computer to intercede on your behalf. The most popular prayer package will set you back $4.95. It includes a Hail Mary, the Lord's Prayer, and whatever else floats your spiritual boat. They'll even throw in a Prayer for the Dead, depending on how your day's been going.
•Catholics are now able to confess their sins without going into a confessional booth. The Catholic Church signed off on an iPhone app that allows the faithful to confess their sins online. But they still have to visit a priest for absolution. Personally, I'm a PC guy—after what happened to Eve and the apple.
•Trinity Church, an Episcopal congregation in New York City, celebrated the Passion of the Tweet. The church literally presented a three-hour Passion Play online, continually tweeting the entire Easter story in bursts of 140 characters or less.
•Evangelist Chris Juby decided there was a market for a "shorter, punchier" version of the Good Book. So he decided to summarize the entire Bible in a series of daily tweets. Now, that's quite a challenge due to Twitter's word limit. And there are no exceptions. God may forgive seventy times seven but even His tweets are limited to seventy times two. I mean, "Jesus wept" is well within Twitter's guidelines, but what about all those passages where folks are "begetting" folks? Does tweeting, "@Adam had a boatload of kids" really do justice to the Scriptures? Juby told AOL News that he was having a tough time condensing the Bible. "There's loads of really important stuff in there that I can't possibly convey on Twitter," he said. "Could I do justice to the 176 verses of Psalm 119 in 140 characters? Probably not."2
Dispatches from Bitter America: A Gun Toting, Chicken Eating Son of a Baptist's Culture War Stories Page 17