A California school district has canceled a fundraising program featuring memorial bricks, scuttling proceeds of $45,000, after two women submitted Bible verses in their tributes.
The two women, Lou Ann Hart and Sheryl Caronna, had filed a court complaint in January against the Desert Sands Unified School District after the district blocked them from placing the Bible verses on bricks to be installed in walkways at Palm Desert High School in Palm Desert, Calif., about 10 miles east of Palm Springs. The women sought an injunction against the district to compel it to allow the scripture bricks.
Instead, school district officials have decided to rescind the fundraiser and refund money of every community group or individual who purchased a memorial brick, according to a court filing last week with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The move has angered advocates of religious freedom in the public sphere.
11 comments:
I am curious, what the reaction would have been if there had been verses written from the Book of Mormon, the Qu'ran, or similar proselytizing for The "Church" of Scientology.
I do find it disheartening, that the spin on this story is "persecution" of religious speech... and not a story about a few people who had an agenda ruining a fund raiser. It's a shame really.
To be sure, the school system failed to post guidelines regarding content, so they also hold the blame for allowing this to happen. They did make the right choice, as moving forward with these bricks would have been a clear violation of the Establishment Clause.
Maybe they should have included all of them and also put it in spanish too to please everyone.
smh
When you ask for money from private sources all bets about separation of church and state are off. If I buy a brick with my money I write what I choose.
The school accepted hundreds of other inspirational messages including Gandhi but decides against inspirational messages from the Bible. Discrimination at its best!
As a Christian I would not care if other religions put messages on the brick that they purchased. If you are that easily offended by religious writings you need to get a life.
@ 9:36 Anonymous
What message from Gandhi was posted... that was overtly religious in nature? Or proselytizing? Point to the message/messages that were similarly proselytizing.
This was NOT discrimination. It was a brave move by the school board to uphold the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
If there were a brick, saying a quote inspired by something Jesus said... like... "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"... without reference, or rather promotion, of the source... then it would be a similar argument as you make for the Gandhi bricks....
But this was NOT the case. If you want to compare apples to apples then we can discuss that... but don't get bent out of shape when we are comparing watermelons vs grapes. These bricks were not just leaving inspirational, wise, messages... they were proselytizing and that was the intent of them.. not to promote wisdom or insight.... but to proselytize.... and this is where the difference is.
10:45 Why are you so offended by words?
1:41 pm Anonymous
Words don't offend me. Sometimes, messages and ideas do... but even so.. I'm not sure as to your perspective nor what you are trying to say/get at....
Please, to articulate your point a bit better...
That seems very unconstitutional to me. I thought it was illegal to discriminate solely on religious reasons.
1:57 I guess what I am trying to say is that since you do not believe in God and know for certain that He does not exist...what does it matter if false/untrue words, ideas or messages are displayed on a brick?
7:17:
Exactly!
@7:17 PM June 15
Just because I don't "believe" in your God... does NOT mean that I make a positive claim it does not exist.. and in this you are mistaken. No evidence has been provided that is compelling enough to believe that it does, much like unicorns or leprichauns. In this I am an atheist... not only to your God.. but to all Deities... which you are too, I might add. So, please to not misrepresent me.
But I digress.... this is not an issue of if the words on the bricks are false or true.. it is a matter of the Constitutionality of them.. and since they are a clear violation of the Establishment Clause... then they are not permitted.
I am curious... how you would react to verses of similar proselytizing from the Qu'ran being included?
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