It amazes me that our Country's supreme court has kicked God and the Lord Jesus Christ out of Public Schools. Unfortunately, this type of stuff still continues to this day as seen in this article.
12/05/11 United States (Christian Post) - A church in the Bronx borough ofNew York City that has been engulfed in a 17-year legal battle against the City's Board of Education over holding Sunday services at a public school auditorium, is near the end of its fight as the Supreme Court has decided it will not hear their case.
The Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical church of approximately 48 members, first applied to hold Sunday services at a public school auditorium in 1994, but was rejected. Through years of back-and-forth appeals, BHF eventually earned a temporary injunction to worship on Sundays at the school in 2002, where it has been holding services ever since. However, the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case means the lower court's decision will stand, thus allowing the Board of Education to evict the church.
The church has been represented by the Alliance Defense Fund since 1995. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel at ADF, said the Supreme Court's decision is not consistent with previous decisions that protected religious expression.
“Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups. They should not be excluded simply because of the religious nature of their speech,” Lorence said. “The Supreme Court’s decision not to review this case is befuddling because it has already ruled multiple times in other equal access cases that the First Amendment protects religious worship the same as secular speech. ADF will continue to stand for this constitutional principle.”
The “befuddling” aspect is that religious activity is allowed to be conducted in public school facilities after hours, as long as it does not interfere with school activities. In other words, it is legal and constitutional for a Bible study group to hold activities in a classroom or auditorium at night or on the weekends, as the Supreme Court ruled in 2001 when it decided Good News Club v. Milford Central Schools. In that case, the court concluded that not allowing Bible clubs to use public school facilities after hours because their activities were religious in nature was a violation of the First Amendment and, therefore, unconstitutional.
ADF used that ruling as a precedent for its argument in favor of BHF, which led to the temporary injunction granted by the 2nd Circuit for BHF to hold Sunday services at the school, but the Board of Education insisted that the church's Sunday services activities were in violation of state law.
The decision by the Supreme Court not to hear the case means that the Board of Education's policy against worship activity in public school facilities will stand and the BHF will no longer be able to hold Sunday services where it has since 2002.
That may also have a negative effect all around New YorkCity , according to Lorence. At present, there are approximately 60 churches that hold services in New York public schools, with many of them helping the community in various ways.
“Many building principals welcome the worship groups,” Lorence said. “They've seen first-hand the destruction many families are suffering these days and how they can be helped with worship groups coming and helping to stabilize the family and community through the Bible(Source).”
12/05/11 United States (Christian Post) - A church in the Bronx borough of
The Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical church of approximately 48 members, first applied to hold Sunday services at a public school auditorium in 1994, but was rejected. Through years of back-and-forth appeals, BHF eventually earned a temporary injunction to worship on Sundays at the school in 2002, where it has been holding services ever since. However, the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case means the lower court's decision will stand, thus allowing the Board of Education to evict the church.
The church has been represented by the Alliance Defense Fund since 1995. Jordan Lorence, senior counsel at ADF, said the Supreme Court's decision is not consistent with previous decisions that protected religious expression.
“Churches and other religious groups should be able to meet in public buildings on the same terms as other community groups. They should not be excluded simply because of the religious nature of their speech,” Lorence said. “The Supreme Court’s decision not to review this case is befuddling because it has already ruled multiple times in other equal access cases that the First Amendment protects religious worship the same as secular speech. ADF will continue to stand for this constitutional principle.”
The “befuddling” aspect is that religious activity is allowed to be conducted in public school facilities after hours, as long as it does not interfere with school activities. In other words, it is legal and constitutional for a Bible study group to hold activities in a classroom or auditorium at night or on the weekends, as the Supreme Court ruled in 2001 when it decided Good News Club v. Milford Central Schools. In that case, the court concluded that not allowing Bible clubs to use public school facilities after hours because their activities were religious in nature was a violation of the First Amendment and, therefore, unconstitutional.
ADF used that ruling as a precedent for its argument in favor of BHF, which led to the temporary injunction granted by the 2nd Circuit for BHF to hold Sunday services at the school, but the Board of Education insisted that the church's Sunday services activities were in violation of state law.
The decision by the Supreme Court not to hear the case means that the Board of Education's policy against worship activity in public school facilities will stand and the BHF will no longer be able to hold Sunday services where it has since 2002.
That may also have a negative effect all around New York
“Many building principals welcome the worship groups,” Lorence said. “They've seen first-hand the destruction many families are suffering these days and how they can be helped with worship groups coming and helping to stabilize the family and community through the Bible(Source).”
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