Religion and Child Abuse News: Virginia school board takes down 10 Commandments posters to avoid lawsuit, students walk out in protest

Secular News Daily - February 24, 2011

Constitutional Commandment: Virginia School Board Obeys First Amendment – At Least For Now

by Americans United

Good news from Giles County, Va.! It looks as though local school board members may have decided not to waste precious financial resources on a church-state lawsuit they were almost certain to lose.

On Tuesday, Ten Commandments posters in all local schools came down.

That may mean the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Virginia ACLU will not be taking this constitutional violation into court.

According to The Roanoke Times, school board members had been warned that they could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars defending the religious displays, and there was a very strong chance that they would lose. The Supreme Court has barred school promotion of religion, including a specific decision holding that Commandments displays are unconstitutional.

Board members weren’t happy about it, but they made the right decision.

“Our entire board would like to see them stay up, but we can’t take that chance of them filing a suit and us losing,” Board Chairman J. B. Buckland said.

The board’s action came despite pressure from local clergy and congregants who demanded that their elected leaders keep the Commandments up. And those same forces are still on prowl.

Unfortunately, that means we don’t know if this is the end of the story.

Buckland hinted to The Washington Post that the board might try putting up a new display that is less obviously unconstitutional.

“We can’t justify spending $300,000 at a time like this, when we need that money for instruction,” he said. “But based on the Liberty Counsel’s advice, we will consider putting something back up.”

Liberty Counsel President Mat Staver has been conferring with board members about the issue, and he’s always looking for ways to circumvent the clear constitutional mandate of church-state separation.

Staver, dean of the Jerry Falwell-founded Liberty University School of Law, is the wrong person to give guidance to Giles County officials. Just this week, he lost another round in a long-running Commandments dispute from Kentucky.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case from the Bluegrass State dealing with Commandments displays in the Pulaski and McCreary county courthouses. The justices’ refusal leaves in place lower court decisions barring governmental promotion of religion.

Staver’s plea asserted, “This Petition provides this Court with the opportunity to finally tear down the walls of the labyrinth of [church-state] jurisprudence.” In fact, he really wants to “finally tear down” the wall of separation between religion and government.

The high court rejected his offer. The Giles County School Board should reject his advice.

This is a really simple issue. As my colleague Rob Boston noted last week, public schools exist to teach children about secular subjects. Religious indoctrination is not part of that responsibility.

Online sites say Giles County has some 40 houses of worship. If parents want their children to learn about the Ten Commandments and other religious concepts, that’s the proper place to look.

Related articles on Secular News Daily:

Virginia school board votes to put Ten Commandments back in county schools
FFRF honors Virginia woman for contesting school religion
Virginia students walk out, demanding their Ten Commandments
Conn. school board revotes on church graduation
Commandments Clash: Va. County Has One Last Chance To Avoid A Lawsuit – And Should Take It

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. Visit them on the web at AU.org.

This article was found at:

http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2011/02/24/constitutional-commandment-virginia-school-board-obeys-first-amendment-%E2%80%93-at-least-for-now/

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Secular News Daily - March 8, 2011

Virginia students walk out, demanding their Ten Commandments

by Mike Daniels | co-editor of Secular News Daily

The latest wrinkle in the Giles County, Virginia Ten Commandments debate: 200 high schoolers walk out of class to protest the removal of the Biblical display.

Students in Giles County demand that their Ten Commandments come back, and anyone who doesn't like them get out.

Last week, proponents of a secular society breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Giles County, Virginia school board decided not to fight an anticipated lawsuit over Ten Commandments displays in its schools. Even Liberty Counsel attorney and Liberty University law school dean Mat Staver informed the school district that they would lose in court, at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars.

“Our entire board would like to see them stay up, but we can’t take that chance of them filing a suit and us losing,” Board Chairman J. B. Buckland said.

Earlier this week, 200 (of 700) high school students walked out of class to protest the removal of the religious display, and demonstrated their feeble grasp of constitutional rights in the process:

“This is Giles County and Christ is a big, big, big part of Giles County. For those who don’t like it, go somewhere else,” shouted one student. She was greeted by a round of cheers from the crowd.

The students prayed and then one by one students spoke out on the reasons they wanted the Ten Commandments placed back in their school.

“This is America and we can have our Ten Commandments and if they don’t like it, they can get out,” said one boy.

“It’s just freedom of religion and speech,” said one boy.

“It’s our choice to have the Ten Commandments. It’s not the law’s choice or anything, it’s not the state’s choice or anything. It’s Giles County’s choice. It’s the kid’s choice,” said another student.

This seemingly-spontaneous protest was organized by local radio personality Marcus Wagner, and joined by parents and pastors from local congregations.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation responded to news of the protest:

The Freedom From Religion Foundation would rather see Giles County students stand up for the Constitution and freedom of conscience, than walk out in support of theocracy. It is not only unconstitutional to post one religion’s edicts on the walls of public schools, but it is bad manners. Public schools must treat all students, regardless of religious views, equally. It is clear that the Ten Commandments violation of ten years’ standing has created a perception among some believing students that they are favored, and that other students are political outsiders. This divisiveness proves our point that religion has no place in public schools, because it creates walls between students.

This article was found at:

http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2011/03/08/virginia-students-walk-out-demanding-their-ten-commandments/

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WDBJ7 TV - Virginia March 7, 2011

Students walk out of high school to bring Ten Commandments back in

About 200 Giles High School students rallied outside the school Monday

by Karen Kiley, Reporter

GILES COUNTY, Va.

About 200 students walked out of Giles High School Monday morning, demanding the return of a Ten Commandments display.

The students were met by about a dozen parents and community leaders. Together, they prayed that the displays be returned to school buildings in Giles County. They were removed last month, after threats of a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

One after another, after another, students marched out of Giles High School.

"We can make decisions for ourselves," said protest organizer and local radio personality Marcus Wagner.

"This is Giles County and Christ is a big, big, big part of Giles County. For those who don't like it, go somewhere else," shouted one student. She was greeted by a round of cheers from the crowd.

The students prayed and then one by one students spoke out on the reasons they wanted the Ten Commandments placed back in their school.

"This is America and we can have our Ten Commandments and if they don't like it, they can get out," said one boy.

"If you don’t like the Ten Commandments, don’t look at them. They are ours to look at if we like to look at them. If you don’t like them, don’t look at them," said one girl.

"It’s just freedom of religion and speech," said one boy.

"It's our choice to have the Ten Commandments. It's not the law's choice or anything, it's not the state’s choice or anything. It’s Giles County’s choice. It’s the kid’s choice," said another student.

School officials asked the students to come back inside after about an hour of protesting. They would not say if the students will face any disciplinary action.

"Lets make this a good thing and let's go to class," said a Giles High School assistant principal.

Protest organizers say those students who went back to class did not get in trouble. Several students were disciplined for leaving school property, fighting, or other activities beyond the organized protest, protest organizers said.

"I understand we need to go to class and we need to learn, but we are fighting for a cause," said a student.

The school board has previously said the Ten Commandments will not be put back up in their current form, due to the threat of a lawsuit.

"I'm proud of our youth for taking this stand. They believe strongly in this," said a youth pastor who joined the protest.

The school and the school board had no comment on the protest.

Some students say they will continue protesting everyday until the Ten Commandments are put back up on the school walls.

Giles High School has about 700 students, according to online data. About 200 students attended Monday's protest. Some students said they were encouraged by other community/church leaders not to attend the walk-out.

This article was found at:

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-students-walk-out-of-high-school-to-bring-ten-commandments-back-in-20110307,0,6636520.story

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Children have a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the right to be free from religion