Texas public school official says students will continue to hear Bible verses every morning

[TexasTowelie]

The superintendent of a Texas school district recently criticized by “Friendly Atheist” Hemant Mehta and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) for allowing a principal to recite Bible verses under the guise of a “Thought for the Day” announcement struck back on Tuesday with a blog post in which he declared that he would do nothing to stop the practice.

In the blog post, White Oak Independent School District Superintendent Michael Gilbert said that he was aware that White Oak High School Principal Dan Noll read scripture over the intercom every morning, but then asserted that he “will not pursue any action against our High School Principal or any other member of our faculty/staff concerning this issue.”

He argued that the FFRF should be ignored because of how few members it has, writing “this is an attempt to draw us into a contest of words for the sole purpose of giving the FFRF a large amount of free press/recognition that they and their very few members (1,200 in Texas) do not deserve.”

Gilbert claimed that the daily scripture reading was not a violation of the Establishment Clause, but was in fact constitutionally protected speech, writing that “{t}here are a multitude of options to provide our students, faculty and staff the opportunity to express their First Amendment Rights as provided for in the United States Constitution.”

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/texas-public-school-official-says-students-will-continue-to-hear-bible-verses-every-morning/#.VQBkQ18uWqU.facebook

[SheilaT]

1. Someone needs to have the nerve to stand up

and read something from some other holy book. Doesn't matter what one, Koran, Book of Mormon, whatever Hindus and Buddhists use (please forgive my ignorance here).

I know it won't happen.

I was raised Roman Catholic, and as a child in the 1950's and early '60's, we typically started the day with The Lord's Prayer. I can tell you it made me totally crazy that I had to even listen to that last phrase, the one that Protestants use. I often wondered, Why can't we just recite a Hail Mary?

Another thing that can make me nuts, is the claim that some prayer is "nondenominational". It's only nondenominational if you're a Protestant. If you're Catholic, or Jewish, or Greek Orthodox, or anything other than Protestant, you can tell that it's a Protestant Christian prayer.

Don't get me wrong. Some of my best friends are Protestants, and I do my volunteer work at the local homeless shelter with the local First Presbyterian Church because my two closest friends here are members there. And what I like and admire about them is that they are NEVER preaching, or trying to convert anyone, or doing anything but quietly living their beliefs.

And to stop ranting and to be a bit fair, the problem with people like these in Texas, is that they NEVER have any contact with anyone who is not a Bible-believing Christian very much like themselves. They have not a clue as to the religious diversity within Christianity itself. They think that all true Christians are the Bible believing ones much like themselves and their neighbors, and I bet if you asked they'd tell you that Catholics are not Christian as far as they're concerned, and they probably haven't a clue about the Greek or Russian Orthodox Churches. And Jews, to them, are the spawn of Satan, and if they've even heard of Hindus and Buddhists they wouldn't have the remotest clue about them.

[edgineered]

2. UNREC

[TexasTowelie]

3. FWIW, unless it is being read for either a comparative religion class or to provide some context

for a history class I do not believe that the Bible should be read in a public school. I don't believe that any public school has a curriculum that would require that any religious text be read each day.

[edgineered]

4. we agree entirely, that's why the UNREC

the op, which is not your words or something you stand behind, is a fine example of runaway relionistas. i cannot in any way rec such a reference, but i can show my support for your posting it by giving you an unrec.

on some activity, was it last month?, i did not suspect you as trolling. observing the interactions and understanding why hard lines must exist there keep me from posting. tmi for here.

[TexasTowelie]

5. Thank you, I was a bit confused and your additional comments helped me to understand.

There is a place for religion for some people (and for others there is no place). Personally, as long as it remains behind the church, mosque, synagogue or temple doors or the discussion is a private conversation between individuals then I don't have any issues. When people are subjected to the beliefs of others without any reasonable way to either avoid those circumstances or leave without causing discomfort or uneasiness then that person's belief in religion infringes on my rights to my beliefs.

[TexasTowelie]

6. Another article from the Longview News-Journal:

http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/mar/11/white-oak-principal-receives-outpouring-of-support/