Local School Board Starts Bible Studies

[buck4freedom]

I was going to post a link to the article from our local paper, but the way they have it set up it won't let me link directly. So, instead of having you have to load the whole thing in .pdf and look for it... I'll just post the text.

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Board Approves Release Time for Religion

Holly Astwood
Staff Writer

Some Newberry Middle School students will be able to choose Bible study as an elective this spring.

As part of a pilot program, the school district will be releasing the students for religious education during the school day.

"This is not denominational, this is not pushing any religion," Superintendent Dr. Keith Callicutt said prior to the local board of education approving the curriculum move last week. "This is Bible education; upon which many religions are based. And frankly we need all the help we can get."

For the last nine weeks grading period, 70 eighthgraders will have the option of using their related arts time to travel off-campus to a nearby church and learn about the Bible.

" adding that to their elective options for the last semester," NMS Principal Donivan Edwards, said of the program.

The 70 eighth-graders, who are being recruited for the class, were identified by Edwards as having fulfilled their necessary related arts credits, such as keyboarding, health and physical education, and having convenient school time available.

"Essentially we’re gaining another related arts teacher," Edwards said of the pilot program.

The related arts class period at Newberry Middle is 45 minutes. Regular classes last 68 minutes at the city school.

Rev. Buck Malcolm, pastor at Aveleigh Presbyterian, who is helping to lead and organize the local coalition of churches offering the class, said that nearly two dozen churches in the area are prepared to be involved.

Involvement by the churches takes a lot, by law.

A 1952 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Zorach v. Clauson, set up some parameters for religious release time for public schoolchildren.

Those guidelines allow for release time if:

• it is voluntary;

• parental permission is granted;

• classes are held off campus;

• transportation is provided by the program sponsor; and

• liability for the students is provided by the program sponsor.

The local churches are sponsoring the program and bear the responsibility for recruiting students and carrying the classes out.

Federal Supreme Court decisions relating to release time are generally interpreted to say that government resources are not to be used to support or run religious education, but also that government resources should not be used to put up significant roadblocks to it.

Justice William O. Douglas wrote in the 1952 Supreme Court decision, "We find no constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion and to throw its weight against efforts to widen the effective scope of religious influence."

"We bear all of the costs, all of the responsibility," Malcolm said of the Bible study classes.

Edwards said the school hopes to open up the option to all three grades if the pilot program goes well.
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I sent a response to our local paper which you can read here.

[Gasolinedream]

1. Ummm,

The claim is that it is general learning of the bible. As soon as it is in a Church, being taught by people from that Church, aren't you pushing theirb versions and interpretations on these kids?

[Bronco69]

2. "This is not denominational, this is not pushing any religion"

Not yet, but wait til those damned Jews and Muslims start showing up to disrupt our teachin' of gawd!

[buck4freedom]

6. Jews?????

Same issue of our local paper:

‘Jews for Jesus’ comes to Aveleigh this Friday

For most people, Jews and Jesus go together like matzo balls and Christmas. If you agree with that notion, Jews for Jesus’ music team, The Liberated Wailing Wall, is out to prove you wrong. This group of traveling musical missionaries will be coming to Newberry on Friday, Feb. 13 and presenting a program of music, drama and testimony at Aveleigh Presbyterian Church, 1211 Calhoun St., Newberry, at 7:30 pm.

Jews for Jesus developed Jewish gospel-style music over two decades ago. They wanted music with a harmony and rhythm that could blend their Jewishness with a message proclaiming Jesus as Messiah. Jews for Jesus say they were surprised and delighted to find others that enjoyed their minor key music, too.

Their music reflects many styles of Jewish and Christian worship. They use a variety of instruments to achieve their sound, including piano, guitar, violin and dunbeck (Middle Eastern drum). Some songs capture the poignant longing that has been a part of synagogue worship throughout the ages. Some are in the style of the Eastern European klezmorim. Others are bursting with the same joyful exuberance you expect to find at an American Jewish wedding. All the lyrics are taken from the Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as the New Testament.

The team members represent a wide range of musical talent, but all of the Liberated Wailing Wall see themselves as part of the Jews for Jesus missionary staff.

Jews for Jesus is an independent missionary organization founded in 1973 by Moise Rosen. The executive director is David Brickner whose staff consists of more than 100 workers based in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, South America and Australia. Their goal is to let Jewish people know that the gospel is for them — that belief in Jesus does not take away one’s Jewish culture and heritage.

"Jews for Jesus began as a slogan, became a movement, then an organization. It is now the generic name for tens of thousands of Jews who have come to faith in Jesus in recent years. Our message is that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world. We are Jews who think this is good news to tell everyone," said Brickner.
"What could be more Jewish than following the Messiah?" continued Brickner, who considers himself living proof that following Jesus does not lead people to abandon their Jewish identity. "Both my parents are Jewish believers in Jesus. I was taught to cherish my roots and heritage."

Jews for Jesus uses drama, music, the spoken and written word to get the point across —and all with a distinctly Jewish accent. They see themselves as communicators, ambassadors who promote understanding and reconciliation among Christians and Jews. The Liberated Wailing Wall fills this role in a unique way. Woven into their music program are short personal testimonies of how they came to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

Team members feel that the message is the most important part of the Liberated Wailing Wall’s music. Their philosophy is: "Whether you’re Jewish or Gentile, we hope that our music is going to help you understand. If you’re Jewish, it will give you insight into Christian thinking, and if you’re Gentile, you will learn about the Jewish roots of faith in Jesus. We want people to understand how Jewishness and the gospel fit together."

Staff members who qualify and opt to join the team agree to be "on the road" for 18 months at a time. They live out of a suitcase, traveling in a custom-built, 42-foot Provost bus with bold JEWS FOR JESUS lettering on the side — a traveling billboard on highways all across the country. In the course of a year’s travel the group covers approximately one hundred thousand miles.
The Liberated Wailing Wall has recorded over ten albums; most recently "Behold Your God." Other musical recordings by Jews for Jesus are also available through Purple Pomegranate Productions, the merchandising division of Jews for Jesus.

Anyone who would like to understand what being Jewish has to do with believing in Jesus is invited to come enjoy the stories, Hebrew music and ethnic costumes of the Liberated Wailing Wall. There will be no admission charge; a freewill offering will be taken for those who wish to contribute to the ministry of Jews for Jesus.

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So, you'll only be allowed if you're "Jewish" but Christian. I guess they're benefitting from an alliance with a local group around here who uses Jewish trappings for their Christian worship (yamulkes, tallis, etc.)

[Mari333]

3. Well, a lawsuit will occur

when one parent steps forward and says their son or daughter is being hassled by other students to go..and hopefully it will force the issue into the limelight and they will change the scenario..

[buck4freedom]

5. I doubt it..

I doubt anyone around here would dare take on Aveleigh Presbyterian. I'll probably find my house or car vandalized or at least be the subject of a very public "prayer meeting" because I dared to challenge them in public in the newspaper.

[Mari333]

12. hey sometimes one has to stick their neck out

I find that many of these people are cowards..nonetheless, I understand, and have cameras set up at my house, because Im in a small town and let my voice be heard..but by god I wont back down and be bullied by a bunch of unpatriotic cowards who refuse to abide by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and my right to sue them if they cross the line in my area. If one child is harassed because of this ruling, the parents can sue, and I hope they do, and buy a rifle in the process. Nothing works as well as a good lawyer, and a major lawsuit, and a rifle. a large dog with snarling teeth comes in handy also.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. "Released time" has existed for decades, but...

when it prevailed in my Minnesota school district in the early 1960s, the students did NOT get credit for it, and not all churches in town took advantage of it. In my school district, it was only the Catholics and the Missouri Synod Lutherans who disappeared for two hours every Wednesday afternoon in sixth grade.

My church had confirmation classes AFTER school.

The fact that kids are getting credit for classes taught by individual churches rather than taking a "Bible as literature" class (something I've seen taught in various colleges, including Yale) taught in a doctrinally neutral way, tells me that this falls outside the limits allowed by the Supreme Court.

Of course, this mind set would not allow a doctrinally neutral Bible course, because then they'd have to deal with the fact that the first five books of the Bible were glommed together from three different traditions, that there are parallels with legends from other Middle Eastern cultures, that most of the books were written hundreds of years after the events described, and that while the Bible is sometimes historically accurate, it is not so at other times. (I learned these facts at the Lutheran college I graduated from.)

I was wondering what state this was happening in, and I was not surprised to see that it was South Carolina.

[Beer Snob-50]

7. I recently taught a bible study course for a 8th grade religious class

and I taught them that the most of the old testament was fiction. T;hat the ideas came from god but that the writer gave us those ideas in whatever way he jor she wanted to. some did parables, some poems, some just good old fiction.

[buck4freedom]

8. Too bad...

you won't be teaching this one. Aveleigh Presbyterian which is spearheading this is totally literalist... they're actually right of the Southern Baptists on most issues!

[leesa]

9. Why is this being offered as an elective?

It's off campus. So now the school board shills for this nonsense?

[buck4freedom]

10. One of my questions

That's what I thought. I might could understand kids who already attend this church or churches being allowed to leave early for a class there. But I have a big problem with school class credit being given for it and an even bigger problem with kids who aren't members of these groups being "recruited" (their words) to take this class.

Wish me luck... my letter will appear in tomorrow's local paper...

I may get vandalized (it's happened before to a friend who dared take on this same church publicly).

[ComerPerro]

11. If I were a parent in that district

I would ask that they have it at the end of the day, so my kid could go home. I would also request that my kid still earn credit. I could teach him something worthwhile.

I figure, they leave, I can leave too.

[Brewman_Jax]

13. I wonder what would happen if...

the local mosque offered Koran studies, or the local synagogue offered Torah studies, or any non-christian religion offered studies in the same manor. Would they be welcomed with open arms? I don't think so.