I declare the declaration of independence unconstitutional...
11-24-2004, 09:36 PM
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I declare the declaration of independence unconstitutional...
http://www.reuters.com/printerFriend...toryID=6911883
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.
Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.
"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.
"Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."
Vidmar could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose and claims violations of Williams rights to free speech under the First Amendment.
Phyllis Vogel, assistant superintendent for Cupertino Unified School District, said the lawsuit had been forwarded to a staff attorney. She declined to comment further.
Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.
Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."
"He hands out a lot of material and perhaps 5 to 10 percent refers to God and Christianity because that's what the founders wrote," said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. "The principal seems to be systematically censoring material that refers to Christianity and it is pure discrimination."
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a California atheist who wanted the words "under God" struck from the Pledge of Allegiance as recited by school children. The appeals court in California had found that the phrase amounted to a violation of church and state separation
Riiiiiiight what are we going to teach the kids, that we declared independence by asking plums?
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.
Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship by principal Patricia Vidmar because he is a Christian.
"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful," said Williams' attorney, Terry Thompson.
"Williams wants to teach his students the true history of our country," he said. "There is nothing in the Establishment Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) that prohibits a teacher from showing students the Declaration of Independence."
Vidmar could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose and claims violations of Williams rights to free speech under the First Amendment.
Phyllis Vogel, assistant superintendent for Cupertino Unified School District, said the lawsuit had been forwarded to a staff attorney. She declined to comment further.
Williams asserts in the lawsuit that since May he has been required to submit all of his lesson plans and supplemental handouts to Vidmar for approval, and that the principal will not permit him to use any that contain references to God or Christianity.
Among the materials she has rejected, according to Williams, are excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's journal, John Adams' diary, Samuel Adams' "The Rights of the Colonists" and William Penn's "The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania."
"He hands out a lot of material and perhaps 5 to 10 percent refers to God and Christianity because that's what the founders wrote," said Thompson, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, which advocates for religious freedom. "The principal seems to be systematically censoring material that refers to Christianity and it is pure discrimination."
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a California atheist who wanted the words "under God" struck from the Pledge of Allegiance as recited by school children. The appeals court in California had found that the phrase amounted to a violation of church and state separation
Riiiiiiight what are we going to teach the kids, that we declared independence by asking plums?
11-25-2004, 07:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Reno Fett
ugh.. 
unfortunately, it seems the left loves this kind of stuff. as i said in another thread, this is the kind of stuff that will lead to our downfall.
unfortunately, it seems the left loves this kind of stuff. as i said in another thread, this is the kind of stuff that will lead to our downfall.
i just told my mother that, and she immediately replied, "that's stupid." And we're some of the staunchest supporters of the seperation of church and state.
11-25-2004, 07:39 AM
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I'll say that I agree this sounds stupid from the report. However, I'd like to see the rest of the documents he was handing out. I'd like to think the school didn't ban him from hand outs for nothing.
11-25-2004, 07:56 AM
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Originally Posted by cowanpp
I'll say that I agree this sounds stupid from the report. However, I'd like to see the rest of the documents he was handing out. I'd like to think the school didn't ban him from hand outs for nothing.
h:
11-25-2004, 08:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Reno Fett
ugh..
unfortunately, it seems the left loves this kind of stuff. as i said in another thread, this is the kind of stuff that will lead to our downfall.
unfortunately, it seems the left loves this kind of stuff. as i said in another thread, this is the kind of stuff that will lead to our downfall.
Blaming the left for everything that you don't like doesn't make you cool; it makes you an asshole.
11-25-2004, 08:54 AM
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Originally Posted by cowanpp
I'll say that I agree this sounds stupid from the report. However, I'd like to see the rest of the documents he was handing out. I'd like to think the school didn't ban him from hand outs for nothing.
"It's a fact of American history that our founders were religious men, and to hide this fact from young fifth-graders in the name of political correctness is outrageous and shameful,"
But if this was an unaltered document, and he didn't have a history of trying to change the children's beliefs, I would agree this is pretty stupid... But I don't think we have all of the facts yet.
11-25-2004, 09:07 AM
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"Teacher: God on history's side"
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Storie...558339,00.html
Link above goes to an excellent article.
I think Williams is incorrect that he has a first amendment right to teach the students the content of those documents. I don't think its a Consitutional issue at all. He does, however, have an educational imperative to teach the kids about the Declaration of Independence and the people who founded our nation. Some of them were religious and some were not. It isn't a matter of endorsing one choice over another -- whoever those people were, its our history and we can't let anyone hide it.
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Storie...558339,00.html
Link above goes to an excellent article.
I think Williams is incorrect that he has a first amendment right to teach the students the content of those documents. I don't think its a Consitutional issue at all. He does, however, have an educational imperative to teach the kids about the Declaration of Independence and the people who founded our nation. Some of them were religious and some were not. It isn't a matter of endorsing one choice over another -- whoever those people were, its our history and we can't let anyone hide it.
11-25-2004, 01:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Reno Fett
:blah: