Mother sues district over ban on Bible

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

One of the activities involves the student's parent reading aloud from a favorite book in class. Busch said her son's favorite book is the Bible.

But before the teacher would let Busch continue, she said she would have to get permission from Principal Thomas Cook. After a meeting in the hall, Cook informed Busch she couldn't read the Bible in class, the lawsuit said.

"He was agitated and upset about it, and felt I should know that, according to him, it was against the law," Busch said.

Busch's complaint alleges the Bible-reading ban is part of a pattern of discrimination against Christians. Students were allowed to read a book about Judaism, learn about the dreidel game, and make Hanukkah decorations — but were prohibited from making Christmas decorations, the lawsuit claimed.

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As much contempt as I have for Christian fundamentalists, this is just stupid. Let the poor deluded woman read her damned Bible, for Christ's sake! And while they're at it, they should let the kids make Christmas decorations, too. This is the kind of crap that gives the first amendment a bad name. The separation of church and state means that the schools, an organ of the government, cannot do anything that would constitute establishing a religion. This includes school sponsored prayer, Bible readings, display of religious symbols, proselytizing, etc. This does not include students' expressions of faith. In other words, teachers cannot require students to pray, but students may pray on their own if they so desire, and it does not disrupt class.

Telling this kid's mother that she can't read from the Bible is simply wrong: she is not an employee of the school, and, therefore, her Bible reading cannot constitute a violation of the first amendment. A couple of words about faith, agnosticism, and atheism given by the teacher immediately afterward would have taken care of any possible Constitutional concerns. Why are these people so ignorant? I don't get it. Freedom of worship is as important as the separation of church and state; it's amazing that college-educated teachers and administrators chronically fail to understand this principle, which really gives the right-wingers something to beat their chests about.

And as far as Christmas decorations are concerned, I think it's pretty clear that the holiday is, at this point, just as secular as it is religious. What's the big deal?

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