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05.28.08
School Must Respect Religious Beliefs of Others
Visiting Proselytizers During School Hours Unfairly Promotes Sectarian Views
FINDLAY, OH- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sent a letter
to Findlay City Schools Superintendent Dean Witter requesting him to
immediately stop school employees from escorting students to visit
missionaries during school hours. According to reports, individuals were
outside the school distributing Gideon bibles, and all fifth grade
students at Findlay City Schools were removed from class in order to
receive a bible from the proselytizers.
ACLU of Ohio Executive Director Christine Link said, “The ACLU is
committed to respecting the rights of anyone to practice a religion or
not, but the school has clearly overstepped its bounds. By taking time
away from class instruction for a clear religious proselytizing purpose,
the school has openly forced the views of a single religious sect on
young people.”
"Gideon International has a right to distribute its bibles on public
property, but the school cannot be involved in sacrificing classroom
time to help them hand out the bibles. If students or their parents wish
to receive information about a particular religion, they should do so
outside of school time," added Link.
In its letter to Witter, the ACLU of Ohio points out that Gideon
International is an inherently sectarian organization, whose sole
mission is to distribute the bible to convert individuals to its
particular Christian sect.
According to news reports, many of the schools did not alert parents to
the fact they planned to use school time to distribute Gideon bibles.
Out of five schools in the Findlay City Schools District, only two sent
home notices to parents offering the option to opt out of the activity.
The notices were sent home with students, rather than mailed directly to
parents.
Link concluded, “Even if all the schools sent home letters explaining
the activity to parents, they still would have exceeded their bounds.
Schools simply may not have activities like this during school hours.
Parents, not the schools, should be able to choose what religion, if
any, they want to expose their children to.”
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Read the letter sent to Findlay City Schools
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