Religious Freedom Inconvenient for Public Schools
By dpayton Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Would you believe that here in the United States, someone would suggest that religious freedom and parental right undermine the public school system? It's happened. A US District Judge has used that as part of his reasoning in a recent ruling.
A federal judge in Massachusetts has ordered the "gay" agenda taught to Christians who attend a public school in Massachusetts, finding that they need the teachings to be "engaged and productive citizens."
U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf yesterday dismissed a civil rights lawsuit brought by David Parker, ordering that it is reasonable, indeed there is an obligation, for public schools to teach young children to accept and endorse homosexuality.
Wolf essentially adopted the reasoning in a brief submitted by a number of homosexual-advocacy groups, who said "the rights of religious freedom and parental control over the upbringing of children … would undermine teaching and learning…"
This started in 2005 when David Parker objected to the fact that he couldn't get his kindergarten child opted out of, or even notified of, same-sex household issues when they were brought up. The judge's ruling gives them three options; private school, home school, or vote in enough School Committee members to get things changed. Fair enough, but can you imagine a court telling a black man that if he doesn't like being forced into blacks-only restrooms and schools that these are his only choices? It would be unthinkable, but religious freedom, written quite plainly into the Constitution, is being afforded less protection than civil rights laws.
We are losing our constitutional rights at the hands of the judicial branch of government, and few notice, care, or even agree that it's being eroded. The folks with the latter view are the most blind.
. . . Judge Wolf probably made the correct ruling on this case which serves as useful tool for determining which “conservatives” really want the courts to leave public policy decisions to the legislative branch and which ones are perfectly fine with the courts legislating from the bench so long as they agree with the outcome.
I'm not a South Park Republican, I'm a King of the Hill libertarian.
This school, at the direction of the board, is teaching that activities, having nothing to do with education, are normal and acceptable though many parents find said activities abnormal and objectionable for religious reasons. The parents understandably protest, on the grounds that a public institution is undermining their religious teachings and they have no option to remove their child or even notification that it is going to happen.
The judge not only rules against the parents but essentially says that the school has to teach that the parents' religion is wrong in order to bring up properly socialized children.
You conflate that ruling with a ruling that says (using one example) that if people are exposed to a prayer at a school event, the school is establishing a religion. And then accuse those of us who disapprove of these rulings of hypocrisy.
To do so makes a mockery of the accusation of hypocrisy.
I understand that gamecock, flyerhawk, and apparently you believe that the ruling was correct. Gamecock argues that states have the right to establish a religion. I don't know what you and flyerhawk use for an excuse, but the SC does not allow us to establish a school religion. And as long as the rest of us are prohibited from public prayer, the least they can do is be consistent and prohibit the secularists from teaching our children in our government run schools that we are bigoted sheep.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
Really. Honestly. I mean, to set yourself up as final arbiter regarding what conservatives should and should not expect from federal courts is a tall order. Thanks for taking it on. We'll all be better for that.
Try this on for size - read the opinion, and then read this critique. Then tell me whether you still think Wolf made the right decision.
Oh, and then tell me again why we're no longer allowed to have a school-board approved prayer in a public school to start the day.
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So libs, how's that Congressional Resolution to end The War™ coming along?
. . . on anothe rdiary.
I'm not a South Park Republican, I'm a King of the Hill libertarian.