As students pulled out of the Dougherty Ferry and Essex parking lots last Tuesday, several men waved them down and handed them orange copies of the New Testament. When a few Call staffers questioned the men, they told us they were members of Gideons International, a religious group dedicated to distributing Bibles and New Testaments. According to the Gideon website, members are participating in a “Flood The World With Scriptures” campaign during October, and they distributed at the high school and middle schools Oct. 19. The Kirkwood School District had no prior knowledge of the Gideons’ visit, and, as the men were on sidewalks outside school property, the action was legal.
As I left the parking lot, I was handed two copies, one for me and one for my brother in the passenger seat. As I held the book in my hand, I felt the discomfort in my stomach growing.
In 2006, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint challenging the South Iron School District’s three-decade practice of allowing Gideons International to come into fifth grade classrooms to distribute Bibles. In 2008, a federal judge ruled that it’s unconstitutional for the district, located in Missouri, to allow Gideons International in the classroom.
“Religious liberty is among the most fundamental of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights,” Leonard Frankel, cooperating attorney on the case, said. “And religious liberty is best protected by keeping the government out of the realm of religions. Public schools should leave religious training to parents and churches.”
While the Gideons were not on school property last Tuesday, they stopped cars leaving the school. I am an almost rabid defender of the First Amendment and religious expression, but that same First Amendment guarantees an individual freedom from religion. A public school is a secular place. When a group is clearly targeting schoolchildren to spread religious material, this crosses the line, even if members do not stand on school property. Laws prohibit drugs, guns and sex offenders not only in school boundaries but within a short distance. How is religious distribution any different?
Davis Williams • Apr 12, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Its ridiculous to make a big deal of this. Christians have always tried to get there message across and get followers (like cults do), and they were doing nothing illegal at all. I don’t like that they did this, but I think that these people had nothing but the best intentions and meant nothing but to open our minds to an idea, and that’s not offensive at all.
Nathan • Nov 19, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Those were WEBSTER bibles. Don’t they know that their campaign would have been much more successful if they had used red and white versions?
Who are their marketing guys?
Daniel • Nov 13, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Where does the first amendment give us freedom from religion? The first amendment states,
“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.”
A part of Christianity is evangelizing and it is therefore protected by the constitution because this would count as exercising their religion. Wearing head coverings is a part of Islam, but it would be rude to try to make a Muslim remove the covering because we wanted “freedom from religion.”
It would be wrong for the Gideons to come into the class to hand out the bibles because this would force the students to take them and give them an unfair advantage against other religions that wished to hand out their texts. However, these men were very respectful of the students and their wishes. The men would hold out a bible at a passing car, but they did not force the bibles onto the students if they ignored them. They were also not trying to gain an advantage over other religions because these religions also could hand out their texts in the same way if they so pleased.
I would like to applauded these men for their actions because it takes courage to stand for something you believe in even when you know that you might be ignored by students or disparaged in the school newspaper.
anonymous • Nov 11, 2010 at 12:15 pm
KHSstudent – 1
ella – 0
KHSstudent • Nov 2, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Ella, I think you misunderstood Devan’s point. The point is not that religion is as dangerous as drugs, guns, or sex offenders, but that none of them are allowed in public schools. Just as drugs, guns, and sex offenders are not allowed in public schools, religion is not a part of the public school system. Sure, you could argue that drugs and sex offenders are not allowed anywhere, so the argument is moot, so let’s just stick with the guns analogy. Guns are legal outside of public schools and the freedom to possess guns is in the constitution just like freedom of religion. But could you imagine a teacher handing out guns to students? No. Not because they are dangerous, but because they have no place in public schools.
The American political culture has always, except for fundamentalist fringe groups, condoned a separation of the church and state. The bible is in no way “just a book.” It is a fundamentally religious text, aimed at proselytizing. Whether you think that this is good or bad, religious proselytizing is not consistent with the separation of church and state. If they were handing out a non-religious magazine, there would be no inconsistency. As to the fact that they were not on school property, I think that is irrelevant, because their goal was to target students as they leave school, not just random strangers on the street. Their actions, though technically legal, were not fitting with the American belief that church and state are independent domains. This belief has been incessantly argued in courts by religious fundamentalists, but, for now, religiously evangelistic texts have no place in a public school.
Ella • Nov 2, 2010 at 1:28 pm
How are people handing out bibles anything like drugs, guns and sex offenders? its just a book. Its not like they are asking you to get in their car or drugs or anything? Would you feel the same way if it was a magazine? it makes no sense.