OH citizens pray for school during weekend, ACLU threatens school…shocking!!!

Posted on August 29, 2006

From the Columbus Dispatch: Blessing of school draws protest

About 180 members of four local churches surrounded a public middle school yesterday to bless the building and those who use it, despite objections from the American Civil Liberties Union about the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state.

Led by a minister from Epworth United Methodist Church, members of Epworth, Karl Road Christian Church, Karl Road Baptist Church and Ascension Lutheran Church joined hands and circled halfway around Woodward Park Middle School at 5151 Karl Rd. In unison, they asked the “great divine one, creator of us all” to bless each “student … teacher, staff and administrator” entering the building.

“Rain or shine, ACLU or not, nobody can stop those who have spirit-filled hearts,” said Patricia Miller, who led the ceremony.

The nearby churches have an ongoing relationship with Woodward Park, providing supplies and other support. Miller said the ceremony at first was planned for inside the building and had the approval of the school’s principal, Jill Spanheimer.

Last week, Spanheimer said she didn’t remember that conversation and that the ceremony would have to be outside. Yesterday, she watched the ceremony from her yard, which borders the school grounds. She would not comment afterward.

The ACLU of Ohio sent a letter to Spanheimer and Superintendent Gene Harris last week, saying that permitting the event would violate the constitutional requirement that public schools remain neutral on religious matters. District officials responded with a letter stating the event was constitutional according to a U.S. Supreme Court case from New York state. In Good News Club v. Milford Central School, the court ruled that any group is permitted to rent and use public-school facilities.

“Anyone can walk onto the school grounds during the weekend,” said Columbus Public Schools spokesman Greg Viebranz.

Gary Daniels, litigation coordinator for the ACLU of Ohio, said this event differed from the renting of school buildings, even those rented for a religious use.

“There’s not that appearance of endorsement by the school,” he said. “There are worse scenarios that can be presented as far as being problematic from a church-state perspective, but this by no means is something that in my mind would pass constitutional muster.”

The key point is in bold. I remember as a kid, we would regularly use school grounds for pick-up football, basketball and baseball games and sometimes just to hang out. I assume that this ACLU attorney who’s quoted did similar things…come to think of it, ACLU-types aren’t normally of athletic pedigree…but anyway…

If ANYONE is permitted on school grounds during school hours, why would the ACLU want to single out people who choose, on their own, to go to the school to pray for the school? Did the ACLU expect the school administration to marshal the local police to barricade the school grounds, loose hounds on anyone carrying a Bible and fire bean bags at the pastors? How could this gathering of private citizens not “pass constitutional muster?”

Once again, the ACLU demonstrates a pathological aversion and hostility to the free expression of faith, even by private citizens in their individual capacities. How many more examples like this do we need before ACLUophiles (like the ones who’ve decided to make criticism of this site a career) acknowledge that the ACLU is NOT the grand defender of religious liberty they claim to be?

» Filed Under 1st Amendment, ACLU, News