ADF Lawsuit Claims High School Censoring Christians

Posted on April 27, 2006

Sadly, this kind of stuff is taking place in schools all over the country. No doubt, that multiple threats and lawsuits from the ACLU have effectively contributed to this chilling trend.

Agape Press

A suburban Philadelphia public school district is being sued for allegedly imposing an “extreme” amount of censorship on Christians students. For example, the lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) accuses the Downingtown Area School District of forcing the campus “Bible Club” to meet as the “Downingtown Prayer Club” instead.

School officials also allegedly would not approve a poster promoting a “See You at the Pole” prayer event until the student group removed a Bible verse, a cross, and all mention of God from the poster. ADF-affiliated attorney Randall Wenger says the school has what he describes as a “totalitarian” speech policy in place.

Wenger says the students at Downingtown High School East Campus could actually run into disciplinary procedures for all kinds of things they have been doing as part of their regular Prayer Club activities. “If they talk about homosexuality, they could potentially get into problems,” he says. “In fact, there is part of the speech code that basically equates expressing a religious viewpoint with expressing obscenity.”

Christian students should have the right to express their beliefs just like everyone else in America, the Pennsylvania pro-family activist insists. “They shouldn’t be muzzled because they want to speak from a religious viewpoint,” he asserts, “and they shouldn’t be muzzled in their ability to express their love for God, to talk about God, to quote Bible versus, or even, of all things, to put a cross on a poster.”

According to the ADF’s complaint, the school district’s policy of lumping religious points of view and profanity into the same category of prohibited speech is unconstitutional. Wenger goes further, calling the school’s policy “outlandish” and saying, “if this weren’t such a serious offense, you’d think it was a joke.”

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States “absolutely guarantees” the right of students to hold and express their viewpoints, the pro-family attorney points out, and that includes their religious viewpoints. Nevertheless, he notes, “on campuses across the nation, Christian students are facing harassment by school administrators who use their position as a bully pulpit.”

» Filed Under 1st Amendment, ACLU, Church And State, News

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One Response to “ADF Lawsuit Claims High School Censoring Christians”

kerwin_brown on April 27th, 2006 12:28 pm

If the federal courts were consistent then I would say that this Philadelphia School does not have a leg to stand on. The Supreme Court has refused to hear arguments from Baldwinsville School District v. Peck which previously decided in the 6th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

In real life the courts are not consistent and from what I have heard the Third Federal Circuit Court of Appeals is dominated by liberals. If this is true then the case may have some trouble.

I am ignoring the U.S. Constitution because the courts no longer seem to care what it’s intent is.