Through the Keyhole

Counting heads

We do not count heads before enforcing the First Amendment.

– Sandra Day O’Connor

Bible verses in school bathroom

School Bathroom Is No Place For Biblical Verses

In Kentucky, the bathroom in Christian County Middle School had become filled with graffiti. So-- according to the Associated Press yesterday-- the school's principal, Larry Cavanah, granted permission to teachers and students to beautify the bathroom by painting over the graffiti. When he returned after winter break, he discovered that graffiti had been covered with upbeat art and inspirational messages. However some of the new artwork was religious in nature-- including a quotation from Psalms 45 reading: "So the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him." After complaints from a parent, Superintendent Bob Lovingood consulted with the school's attorneys and ordered that the Biblical verses be covered up. (By the way, the names of the county, the superintendent, and the quote from Psalms, are for real.)

An Inconvenient Truth

School Board Requires Opposing Views On Climate Change After Religious Objection To Gore's Film

In Federal Way, Washington, the School Board last week required that teachers showing Al Gore's film on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, must also present their classes "a credible, legitimate opposing view" to Gore's views on global warming. In addition, teachers must obtain consent of the principal and superintendent to show the film. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Thursday reported that the school board action followed a complaint by parent Frosty Hardison-- who also believes in teaching creationism and opposes sex education in schools. Hardison said: "Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher. The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD." Meanwhile, Hardison's wife Gayla, said: "If you're going to come in and just say America is creating the rotten ruin of the world, I don't think the video should be shown." School board President Ed Barney said that the district has a policy of presenting both sides of controversial issues.

Woohoo for the Senator from South Carolina!

Yes, Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) does indeed get it right.

Talking out of both sides of their mouths?

If the Boy Scouts require their members and leaders to believe in God, how can they claim they're "a very big tent. . . . You can belong to any religion or no religion at all?"

Blogging the private lives of others

CNN.com has an interesting article on a lawsuit between two U.S. Senate aides. One is suing the other for making detailed posts about their sexual encounters on her public blog. At issue in the case is whether one person has the right to blog about the private life of someone else...

English professor + church = academic freedom issue

An English professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign runs into an interesting academic freedom issue...

Defamation

I hope that one day our society gets to a point where calling someone a lesbian is not considered to be defamation. How sad...

Protecting the rights of schoolchildren

I love a good quote. I can't think of a better example to kick off the Quotes category than this one from West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.

This still resonates as truly today as it did sixty years ago. Unfortunately, too many administrators either forget or simply don't care about the rights of schoolchildren. The end result is a generation of students that is both cynical and apathetic about their supposed constitutional freedoms.

T-shirt: Homosexuality is shameful

The Ninth Circuit recently upheld a federal district court's refusal to stop the Poway (CA) school district from preventing a student from wearing a t-shirt that said Homosexuality is Shameful during a day of silence observance. This case is interesting given the result of the Woodbury (MN) Straight Pride t-shirt case.

For more details, see the NSBA summary of Harper v. Poway Unified School District.