CISD changes controversial belief statement

[Az]

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=9442683&BRD=1430&PAG=461&dept_id=185335&rfi=6

Excerpt
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The belief that "faith in a Supreme Being adds meaning to life," which had drawn both sharp criticism and support from the community when unveiled earlier this year, has been altered to the belief that "spiritual faith adds meaning to life."
"We made the change because we listened to public input and public concern," said Cindy Warner, a CISD trustee and planning team member. "Our district does not have the time or money to engage this in a legal arena and, unfortunately, that might be where it would have gone."

But while the change has satisfied some officials and parents, others remain in opposition.

"If there's ever a word that can be twisted to mean different things, it's 'spiritual,'" said Joe Barhhart, a professor at the University of North Texas. "They're doing it in a way to make it as vague as possible and still mean something."

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[Stuckinthebush]

1. Wow! Deja Vu!

About a year ago, I started a thread detailing how my local School Board in Alabama had developed a set of belief statements during a long-term strategic planning process.

One of the belief statements was:

We believe that a belief in a Supreme Being adds quality and direction to life

DUers helped me draft a letter to the Board.

At first it looked like they blew it off, but a month ago, I checked the belief statements on-line and saw that, indeed, they had quietly changed it to:

We believe that all beliefs should be respected

Well, I thought this was a win for our team. Reading this story that Az put up, I wonder if something is going on nationally.

The wording of the orignial statement is too similar to the wording of the CISD statement. Is there some fundamentalist group that is encouraging people to get on strategic planning groups to add this statement in? I know that the right-wing has a host of organizations designed to get people on School Boards or change school policies, so perhaps this is a similar phenomena.

Hmmmm....the wording is just too similar.

[Az]

2. It is organised

Christian coalition formulates tactics and passes them on just like the repuke talking points. Stealth candidates and other methods are used to gain control of commitees and then they place their agenda on the table after they have control.