Pass The Ammo

Oh man am I pissed. This is just another reason why my children will NEVER step foot into a public school system. I wrote Adolph Jr. a letter of my own:

Mr. Bragg,

I recently had the displeasure hearing about your suspension of a California teacher for educating students on the true history of the United States of America. I do not know what country you come from, but in this country our students deserve to know the truth about our history and that includes the the proper teaching of the Declaration of Independence. It is people like you that undermine this country, it’s history and the people that fight for it every day. This incident is nothing short of fascist censorship in the worst order. Are you going to have book burning party next? People are listening Mr. Bragg and I can only hope you will be held accountable for your actions. You are a truly shameful American.

A little something to add….

Declaration Of Independence banned!

The seemingly preposterous headline made major waves on the conservative Drudge Report and Fox News network Wednesday, joining Reuters and the Associated Press, in a misleading story that exhibited serious reportorial negligence, RAW STORY has learned.

The story, which reports that a California teacher has been banned from giving students documents from American history that refer to God, including the Declaration of Independence, is said a product of right-wing spin.

In fact, Cupertino public school principal Patricia Vidmar banned documents relating to God because the teacher had been forcing students to listen to what some felt was Christian propaganda, a media watchdog site reports. According to the site, the school had told him to stop but he did not comply, at which point the principal required that he submit his lesson plans to her in advance.

The teacher, Steven Williams, sued for discrimination and is now being represented by a conservative Christian legal group, Alliance Defense Fund.

Alliance Defense Fund boasts of other legal “successes,” including the right of Boy Scouts to refuse gays from ascending to leadership positions.

According to People for the American Way, a watchdog group, ADF was founded by 30 Christian ministries to serve as a counterbalance to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The organization defends the right of Christians to “share the gospel” in workplaces and public schools, asserting that efforts to curb such speech at work and schools are “anti-Christian.”

None of the major news agencies reporting on the story included quotations from the school or the principal, stating that a spokesman had referred them to a staff attorney. The articles suggest they did little research beyond the statements provided by William’s attorneys.

Reuters included scant information about the group who sued on Williams behalf, saying only that the group advocates “religious freedom.”

A media watch site, Seeing the Forest, first caught the story Wednesday evening.

“The school did not ‘ban the Declaration of Independence’ – that is just a lie,” Editor Dave Johnson, who is a fellow at the Commonweal Institute, wrote. “This story is like when you hear that a man was ‘arrested for praying’ and you find out he was kneeling in the middle of a busy intersection at rush hour and refused to move.”

California’s Education Code does allow “references to religion or references to or the use of religious literature … when such references or uses do not constitute instruction in religious principles … and when such references or uses are incidental to or illustrative of matters properly included in the course of study,” as William’s lawyers have pointed out.

It does not, however, allow for forced religious

Williams and the lawyers dropped the suit and ran with their tails between their legs. The school district policies and practicies were totaly upheld.

Looks like the ADF got enough fund-raising done and wanted to cut the cost of losing the suit.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/12403151.htm