A Bible Club Controversy

Bravo, snood.

I'm not sure how big a risk it is because I don't know how many cultural toes you're going to be stepping on. I assume you need an appraisal from the school administration. Dunno what impact this might have on that. The editorial board may choose to print your letter without comment as simply a letter to the editor and then see what kind of reader support/flames you get. They may decide to interview the school personnel. They may shred it. I'm guessing they'll print it as a letter to the editor and see the response before they get involved any further.

Have you considered calling the newspaper and asking to speak to a reporter?

Unless you've been eating worms you have"bated breath", not "baited breath". Though, since you're asking "think they will bite?", perhaps you do have baited breath.

Not yet, JPB. Might call though.

OK.
Thanks for your valuable spelling guidance.

This is very interesting snood, and is, in fact something that concerns me.

Can I assume that the woman who runs this meeting is of a very fundamentalist belief?
I think the principal doesn't want to rock the boat, because of what she thinks (or knows) what this womans response would be.

Having grown up in an area where, from what I could see, one's religious belief was your own business, and having lived for a couple of years in a place where Christianity touched every aspect of of your interactions with others, I can honestly say that navigating the waters in this 2nd community was more difficult and fraught with pitfalls than if I moved to a foreign country with a different culture and language.

My experience has been that it doesn't matter how nicely you let someone know you're not interested in their religion, you are labeled as "other" You'll get lip service saying they don't think any less of you, but actions speak louder than words.

If this woman was asked to disband, or tone it down, I believe she and her group would organize some big rally or protest. Not something you want to hit the papers.

Oh, BTW, I too say Bravo.

Snood, I'm a Canuck, so take this for what it's worth.
I went to a Catholic school and funnily enough, there were never any clubs like this. If there were, I wouldn't have joined anyway.
My concern is that you went to the media before speaking to the principle or school district first. This could get you into some trouble. Many institutions have a no-media policy and I'm worried you might have caused yourself some trouble by crossing this line, not going through the proper channels as it were.
I know this isn't a permanent position but the school industry can't be that big where you live. People talk, your name could become tied to a controversy and your future employment could be jeopardized.
Again, I have no idea how these sort of things work in the States, but I think you should have thought about it or talked to others before you sent the letter.
By the way, I totally agree with what you said.

If it is being done in a similar manner to other school base clubs such as say a math club or a chess club then it is likely to be legal in my non-lawyer opinion.

Is time for other clubs to meet being set aside during the school day?

A call to the local ACLU branch however might not be uncalled for.

Well, I did talk to an administrator first, but your concern about what the blowback could be is well taken. I will be moving to North Carolina in a few months, and I don't foresee needing any local recommendations from the folks I did my internship with when I start applying in NC. We'll see.

I don't think the same concerns are brought to mind by chess clubs and science clubs, just because religion in public schools has been so historically volatile.

Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in public schools
The Federal Equal Access Act
Student-led clubs in public high schools




Overview of the law:
Most student-led, special interest, non-curriculum clubs must be allowed to organize in most U.S. high schools. Their right to assemble is usually protected under a federal law -- the Equal Access Act, (20 U.S.C. §§ 4071-74) 1

The law was originally heavily promoted by conservative Christian groups to allow students to organize religious clubs in public secondary schools. These are typically conservative Christian Bible study, fellowship and prayer clubs. One writer estimated that the number of Christian Bible clubs in high schools rose from 100 in 1980 to 15,000 by 1995. 5 The Equal Access Act was a major contributor to this increase.

The Act affects much more than Christian clubs. Ironically, over opposition from the same conservative Christian groups that sponsored the law, the same legislation is now being used to support the right of students to organize gay/lesbian/bisexual support groups in those same high schools. The Act requires most schools to permit clubs of all religions, and none. Included might be groups which deal with Atheism, Goth culture, Heavy Metal music, Satanism, Wicca, other Neopagan religion, etc. School districts can opt out of the Act by not allowing any non-curriculum clubs.



The Equal Access Law:
The Equal Access Act was passed in the Senate with a vote of 88 to 11; it passed in the House 337 to 77; it became law on 1984-AUG-11. The law applies only to public secondary schools which:

Receive Federal financial assistance.
Already have "a limited open forum." i.e. at least one student-led, non-curriculum club that meets outside of class time. Chess, model building, political, religious and many similar types of clubs are considered to be non-curriculum based. A French club might be considered to be curriculum related.

The language of the Act is quite clear. Such schools must allow additional clubs to be organized, as long as:

Attendance is voluntary.
The group is student-initiated.
The group is not sponsored by the school itself, by teachers, by other school employees, or by the government. This means that such employees cannot promote, lead or participate in a meeting. However, a teacher or other school employee can be assigned to a group for "custodial purposes."
The group is not disruptive. i.e. it "does not materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities within the school."
Persons from the community may not "direct, conduct, control, or regularly attend activities of student groups."

The school is required to treat all of its student-led non-curriculum clubs equally:

Each club must have equal access to meeting spaces, the PA system, school periodicals, bulletin board space, etc.
School officials have the right to monitor meetings.
Officials can require all clubs to follow a set of rules, including non-discrimination policies. However, a court has ruled that religious clubs can discriminate against persons of other faiths in their selection of officers.
The school may limit meeting times and locations, but must apply rules equally to all groups.
The school may prohibit people from the community from attending student clubs. However, they must apply this rule equally to all groups.

Thus, if the school receives financial support from the Federal government and already has one or more student-initiated, extracurricular clubs on campus, then additional clubs cannot be prohibited. One exception would be in the case of a group that can be shown to be disruptive to the educational process. The Equal Access Act and the U.S. Constitution itself protects students' right to the enjoyment of free association and speech.



Background information:
During the early 1980s, a number of decisions by lower-level courts had interpreted the establishment clause strictly. In their rulings, the courts supported the right of school districts to prohibit student-led religious clubs on campus. Many school administrators followed these decisions, feeling that they were simply enforcing the First Amendment's wall of separation of church and state.

In 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Widmar v. Vincent, 454 US 263 that public universities which allowed political student-led groups to use campus buildings for their meetings could not deny equal privileges to a Christian student group on campus. They reasoned that university students are mature individuals. The students would realize that the university is acting in a neutral manner toward religion by allowing religious groups to meet on campus. The university would not be viewed as promoting religion by their equal treatment of all student groups.

The Equal Access Act was signed into law in 1984-AUG. It covers clubs in public secondary schools. It was ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990. 2 The case, "Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens," was typical of many school conflicts over clubs. The school involved already had a chess, scuba-diving and a service club. But a group of Christians were not allowed to form an additional extracurricular group. Their club was to involve Bible study, prayer and fellowship. The Supreme Court issued a clear, 8 to 1 decision in favor of the club. They ruled that:

The Equal Access Act, as written, does not violate the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitutional.
Courts in individual states might still find the Act to be in conflict with their own constitution. 3
It only takes a single existing student-led group at a high school to define the campus to be a "limited open forum."
The court interpreted the act's reference to "noncurriculum related student group" to mean any student group

"that does not directly relate to the body of courses offered by the school. A group directly relates to a school's curriculum if the group's subject matter is actually taught, or will soon be taught, in a regularly offered course; if that subject matter concerns the body of courses as a whole; or if participation in the group is required for a particular course or results in academic credit."

All student groups which qualify under the Act are to be treated equally by the school board. In the case of Westside, this included:

"official recognition, which allows clubs to be part of the student activities program and carries with it access to the school newspaper, bulletin boards, public address system, and annual Club Fair."

This ruling has triggered many lower-court cases involving students and high school groups who had had their freedom of religious expression restricted by public school districts. Based on the Mergen's ruling, President Clinton and the Department of Education issued guidelines on religious expression in public schools in 1995.

Additional court decisions have further interpreted the law:

Pope v. East Brunswick Board of Education, [12 F.3d 1244 (3d Cir. 1993)] extended the coverage of the law to schools that allow only extracurricular clubs that are faculty-initiated. 4

Hsu v. Roslyn Union Free School District No. 3, [85 F.3d 839 (2d Cir. 1996)] required a high school to allow a Christian club to discriminate on the basis of religion when electing its officers. The school had a general rule that prohibited religious discrimination by clubs. 4

Perhaps. I'm not familiar with the patterns of the paper. Can I take your apprehension as a measure of cynicism that the paper acts on this kind of thing?


My first reaction was no, but putting myself in your shoes, I could understand some other factors. For instance, you're not and atheist like myself. As a Christian, if someone took issue with your raising a stink, you could face some social friction or osterization. That's not fair to you if it does happen. I don't like the idea that you should have to choose loyalty to your community versus your own principles.

I say this completely ignorant of what role you have in your church's community, or the more generally your church's sensibilities.


I hope not. I'd rather this be addressed and the students learn about civics and how to exercise their rights responsibly.

I applaud your action on this snood.

A
R
T

That may be but a religion club seem to have the same rights to meets as a chess club or a math club and under the same terms as those other clubs under federal law.

Of course so would an atheist club or a gay right club or for that matter a devil worshiping club.

http://www.amightywind.com/prophecys/satanclub.htm


High School Satanism Club Prompts Parental Outrage

Students say lunchtime meetings do not worship Lord of Underworld

By T.S. Mills-Faraudo
San Mateo County Times
9.27.2002

A group of San Mateo High School students trying to stir up controversy formed a club based on Satanism, a religion typically associated with hedonistic philosophy and with the rituals of black magic.

Calling themselves The Satanic Thought Society, co-president of the club James Doolittle admits he originally started the club with his friend Matt Heeney to "rile things up a bit."

But now that the two juniors have studied the teachings of Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, they say Satanism helps people to express themselves.

"Its (Satanism's) purpose is to turn man back into a natural state and not have him corrupted by religion," Doolittle said.

The club does not worship the devil, he said, as some may think.

In a flier posted around the school, the club says its goal is to divide church from state

completely.

The flier also says the club's purpose is to make the community realize that "Satanism is not the practice of resurrecting hate and violence through evil spirits, nor is it a cult religion wherein people worship a horned beast symbolic of the leader of hell."

LaVey started the Church of Satan in 1966 under the theory that Satan is not a supernatural being, but rather a symbol of defiance and rebellion against a conformist, God-fearing society, according to literature on the Anton LaVey Web site.

"Satanism doesn't support hate for no reason," Doolittle said. "Satanism says it's OK to feel hate, because hating allows them to love more."

While the Church of Satan does practice rituals, he said the club will not be doing this.

Furthermore, Doolittle stressed that the club is not about hurting others.

"We don't want people to associate us with any violence," he said.

At the club's first meeting on Wednesday during the school's lunch hour approximately 35 students attended.

"The club is about sharing opinions and views," said Associate Student Body President Joey Izzo, who attended the meeting and joined the club.

The two students were successful in riling up parents as well as a few students.

Pam Cachay said she couldn't believe it when her 10th-grade daughter told her it was announced on the school's loudspeaker that a Satanism club had formed.

"The parents I've talked to are outraged," she said.

Her 15-year-old daughter, Larena Whattam, was equally offended when she heard about the club.

"I was completely appalled. I'm a Christian and I love God," said Whattam, who is member of the school's Christian Club.

Cachay said a group of parents and others in the community will be protesting the club on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. in front of the performing arts building.

What angers her the most is the school's support of the club.

"It's just a negative that doesn't belong in the school," she said.

But Principal Jacqueline McEvoy is quick to point out that under the federal Equal Access Act for Secondary Schools, the school must allow this club to exist.

In an e-mail to 300 parents, McEvoy wrote that this law requires that schools allow a limited open forum for clubs. It also said the students in the club are not devil worshipers and they will not be performing rituals.

"These young men are really interested in the philosophical teachings of alternative religions," she said.

Jann Westfall, president of the Parent Teacher Organization, supports the school's reasoning for allowing the club.

"I don't think we should tell kids what they can and can't learn, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone."

While McEvoy said she has received calls from members of the religious community angry about the club's formation, Father Harold Snider of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Burlingame said the First Amendment is behind these students.

"Lets face it, teenagers love to shock," he said. "The best thing to do about it is to not make a big deal."

© 2002 San Mateo County Times

It's a sort of ironic situation, since I don't actually object to Christianity, but just to unconstitutionality (and willful ignorance).

I got an answer from the news editor of the local rag. Very brusque - "If no one's being compelled to attend, what laws are being broken?"

I sensed defensiveness (and such a weak showing of curiosity or journalistic instinct), so I did a little research on the news editor. Sure enough, her "news stories" are chock full of sentiment, Christian homilies and the red, white and blue (especially white ).

Methinks I may not be getting an objective hearing here.

Surprise!

and shock!

I'm sure you'd guess I fully agree with you, Snood. Re your career moves, I can see wariness re amping this up, so bravo for acting. But now, what. When I first read this, I thought, ACLU, but that might be a bag of beans you don't want to get into. Talking with them might be at the least interesting.

I still remember a public design review I was at to speak for my chinese clients' development firm and our agreed upon design, when the meeting was opened for a prayer to Jesus to help us all make the right decisions. I couldn't believe my ears at the time, and I've been to bunches of design reviews. I managed not to yelp. That would have been very tacky, and a dastard choice re success of the project (don't ask how many hours). I had, naturally, no idea of my clients' religious affiliation nor they mine, and they weren't right next to me at the time, and we never did talk about it, as the project passed (yea!) and my husband had driven me there as it was a night meeting (me night blind) and we were anxious to get some dinner and get home, something like an hour and a half away... so we had quick congratulations with the clients and left. I grumbled about all this at work the next day, but then there was this other project with an impossible deadline and I never looked into doing anything about my qualms re that meeting.

Not to mention, that development firm might have wanted to build in the area on some future project. This gave me a little window into the world of the complications of speaking up.

No doubt. I can't think that anyone wants this discussed.

It's just the way things are done. Hey, no one ever had a problem with it
before you brought it up.

I also felt a bit uncomfortable when I was a teacher at a Catholic high
school in Marrero, Loozianne and found out that the schoolbooks
were provided by the state. (Thanks to Huey Long)