Is Distributing Bibles Illegal in Schools?
By Michael F. Haverluck
CBNNews.com
December 5, 2007
CBNNews.com - Fifty million children attend public schools in a nation that coined the phrase "In God We Trust," but the number of those allowed to receive free Bibles on campus is shrinking.
An aggressive attempt to eradicate God's Word from the schools was recently made by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU convinced authorities in a North Carolina school district to ban the distribution of Bibles by The Gideons International, an interdenominational association committed to spreading God's Word.
With threatened lawsuits, multicultural education and secular agendas sweeping through the school system, many wonder whether the Bible has any legal place in the schools. The ACLU would like us to believe it doesn't, but is this based on fact?
After receiving a complaint, the ACLU warned that it would take legal action against Harnett County School District for allowing the Gideons to hand out Bibles on elementary school campuses. For years, the Gideons have distributed Bibles to schools in this district.
Shortly after school officials acquiesced to the intimidation, the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal organization defending Christian rights, wrote a letter on Friday to the district offering free legal representation.
But are schools afraid to stand against the ACLU because they're unaware of their rights?
Many are led to believe that the U.S. Constitution and the separation of church and state prohibit the Bible from being distributed on public school campuses, but ADF maintains that this is simply not true.
"A religious organization, such as the Gideons, is not second class to other groups that are allowed to distribute literature for voluntary reading at public schools," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. "The ACLU's claim that the district has somehow broken the law by honoring those equal access rights is not supported by current Supreme Court precedent."
No Isolated Incident
The ACLU was busy seeking to end Bible distribution in North Carolina schools last month as well.
According to ADF, the ACLU evidently persuaded the public schools in Fayetteville, N.C., to stop permitting the delivery of Bibles to its campuses, claiming such practices by the Gideons violate the U.S. Constitution.
Once ADF learned that Cumberland County Schools no longer allowed outside groups to leave Bibles at its elementary schools, it offered to represent the district against the ACLU free of charge.
"Bibles are not second class to other types of written materials left for students to read voluntarily, "said Cortman. "There's nothing unconstitutional about outside groups leaving Bibles at public schools so long as the schools do not prohibit other groups from leaving literature as well."
Cortman points to the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause as a legal precedent protecting such distribution, as well as the court case Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98, 110 (2001).
"So long as the district permits outside groups to distribute religious and nonreligious materials on a neutral basis, it does not violate the Establishment Clause to permit the distribution of Bibles as well," Cortman said.
ADF strongly encourages public schools to continue their long-standing tradition of allowing God's Word to be made readily available from outside sources.
"At no time did the school officials or the Gideons violate anyone's constitutional rights," Cortman concluded. "The ACLU's continued use of scare tactics to impose its agenda on public schools must be stopped."
Sources: Alliance Defense Fund, Gideons International, CBN News
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