Do Students Make the Connection?

Students today love to read books and watch their movie adaptations about dystopian societies -- where oppressive, dehumanizing governments create the opposite of utopia in a misguided attempt to eradicate war, misery, conflict, and pain. While books like The Giver, Divergent, and The Hunger Games are all the rage with teens these days, I wonder if they realize the similarities between the fiction they read and some disturbing aspects of American society today. Many elementary and junior high teachers assign The Giver for their students to read. Over the years, I've received calls and emails from parents concerned about this reading assignment because of its descriptions of euthanasia and sexual awakening in the main character. The book made the American Library Association's list of most challenged or banned books between 2000 and 2009.

I like the book's conservative message against the dehumanizing dangers of government. But I think the book is not well served by having students read it when they are not emotionally or intellectually ready to appreciate the theological, moral, and social issues it raises.

The Giver recently hit movie theaters (starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep). Written in 1993 by Lois Lowry, the story is set in a society in which pain and suffering have been eliminated, but at the cost of eliminating choices and strong emotions. "Sameness" is a social virtue. Jonas, the main character, is a 12-year-old boy chosen to become the Receiver of Memory. This person keeps all the memories before there was Sameness. The Receiver of Memory can help the society's leaders -- the Elders -- if they need to access his memories of struggle and pain. But, in the process of receiving memories from the Giver of Memories, Jonas begins to realize a darker side to the "perfect society." He sees that suffering is eliminated by euthanizing "unfit" infants and senior citizens (euphemistically referred to as sending them to "Elsewhere"). The plot revolves around a horrified Jonas setting out to make things right.

When teachers use The Giver with students who are too young, they do a disservice to the book's powerful examination of moral issues. For example, they read about a gruesome scene of a baby being euthanized by the state. Are teachers willing to help their students make the connection that they are actually living in a society that values the killing of innocent children because it supposedly serves the greater good of personal autonomy and alleviating potential social burdens?

Through dystopian stories like The Giver young people also read and watch how freedom of conscience is subordinated to group-think. But, do they realize that they are witnessing this very thing happening in America today when it comes to the suppression of religious freedom in the name of group-think about same sex marriage? For example, wedding photographer Elaine Huguenin declined the job of photographing a same-sex wedding because she believed that using her creative talents to memorialize the ceremony would be an act of endorsement and would, therefore, violate her religious conscience. In the dystopian world advanced by the New Mexico Supreme Court, Justice Richard Bosson declared that religious people should be “compelled by law to compromise the very religious beliefs that inspire their lives.” He went on to write that being forced to aid a ceremony that Elaine's religion says is against God's moral law "is the price of citizenship." The Elders in The Giver would wholeheartedly agree.

In another example of dystopia today, the California State University system Chancellor, Charles Reed, recently declared that the 23 universities in the Cal State system will no longer recognize student religious clubs if they require their leaders to adhere to the club's religion. In the twisted logic of the Chancellor, discrimination against religious students is necessary in order to prevent religious students from discriminating against others even if it means religious clubs will be led by people who don't believe in that religion! So, in the dystopian world of California universities, atheists can now lead Christian clubs and Muslims can lead Jewish clubs. Apparently, the potential pain of discrimination is just too great and must be prevented by Mr. Reed. Again, the Elders in The Giver would wholeheartedly agree.

If teachers are not willing to draw parallels between the society described in The Giver and disturbing trends in American society today, then the book is reduced from being thought-provoking education to being merely titillating entertainment.

Teacher Complains to Parents about Son's Bible Reading

Today, Fox News reporter Todd Starnes reported on a case of blatant religious discrimination in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A fifth-grade teacher at Park Lakes Elementary humiliated a boy by calling his parents – while the rest of the class watched – and complained to his parents that their son, Giovanni Rubeo, was reading “a religious book” – the Bible! Starnes reported that as the other students watched, the teacher left a terse message on the family’s answering machine.

“I noticed that he has a book – a religious book – in the classroom,” she said on the recording. “He’s not permitted to read those books in my classroom.” (Listen to the voicemail she left)

It is frustrating that censorship of Bible reading in class persists when the U.S. Department of Education has clarified for the past 19 years that reading the Bible during free reading time is perfectly legal. Since 1995, the federal government has issued guidance to all public school superintendents on three separate occasions (1995, 1998, and 2003) asking them to inform teachers and students of their religious rights. The guidance specifically state:

“Among other things, students may read their Bibles or other scripture, say grace before meals, and pray or study religious materials with fellow students during recess, the lunch hour, or other non-instructional time to the same extent that they may engage in nonreligious activities.”

The law is clear about Giovanni’s freedom to read the Bible during free reading time. Sadly, even after 19 years and three nationwide publications, many teachers are not familiar with these federal guidance.

Ironically, fifth-grade teachers in Florida are expected to teach about the influence of Christianity when it comes to people’s rights. In Gateways to Better Education’s, “The Bible in State Academic Standards,” we highlight where the Bible and Christianity are expected to be taught. According to the Florida Department of Education, fifth grade students are to:

“Explain the definition and origin of rights. Examples are John Locke's ‘state of nature’ philosophy, natural rights: rights to life, liberty, property…” (Civics and Government, SS.5.C.1.3)

In the late 17th century John Locke wrote:

“The state of Nature has a law of Nature to govern it, which obliges every one, and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions; for men being all the workmanship of one omnipotent and infinitely wise Maker; all the servants of one sovereign Master, sent into the world by His order and about His business; they are His property, whose workmanship they are made to last during His, not one another's pleasure.” [Emphasis added]

John Locke would most likely shake his head in disbelief that an American teacher thinks she must suppress a child’s religious freedom while being expected to teach about natural rights that come from God.

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Click here to receive a Summary of your State Academic Standards.

Find out more about Gateways’ pamphlet, Free to Speak: What the U.S. Department of Education says about public school students’ religious liberties.

Obama's 2013 Thanksgiving Proclamation

President Obama has issued his Thanksgiving Proclamation in which he reminds us that "we rise or fall as one Nation, under God." He also quotes Abraham Lincoln "who called on his fellow citizens to 'fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.'" Putting politics aside, we can all appreciate the President's reminder to Americans that we are a nation under God. And he chose an excellent quote from Lincoln. Last year he asked the nation to "spend this day by lifting up those we love, mindful of the grace bestowed upon us by God." In 2011 and 2010 he was even more direct in referring to giving "thanks to each other and to God," and lifting "up our hearts in gratitude to God for our many blessings."

Thanksgiving is a teachable moment. After we bow our heads in prayers of gratitude to God for His blessings, we should point out to our children that Thanksgiving Day is a testimony to the deeply religious heritage of America. Every Sunday, we thank God for His blessings. But once a year, the President of the United States - "by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States" - calls on the nation to thank God for His blessings.

‘Tis the Season for Censorship

The holiday season is fast approaching. Christians as well as atheist activists both relish this time of year, but for completely different reasons. People of faith see this time as a heartwarming opportunity to enjoy deeply held traditions in the American culture. Atheist activists, on the other hand, see this as the proverbial “golden opportunity” for their cause. They can hardly wait for the publicity they gain from attacking schools and town councils. In many of America’s schools, the atheists have been effective in censoring mention of the religious nature of holidays. For example, too often educators teach that Thanksgiving is merely a nostalgic remembrance of what happened 400 years ago between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. Students get the idea that besides some dusty old origin, Thanksgiving is about Turkey, football, and being the day before Black Friday retail sales.

A few years ago, Americans United for Separation of church and State got mad at us because we “encourage teachers to use Thanksgiving to explain how the country thanks ‘God for His blessings.’” Guilty as charged. We encourage educators to actually educate their students about the meaning of Thanksgiving as expressed by the President of the United States in his annual Thanksgiving Proclamation.

For example, last year, President Obama proclaimed, “This day is a time to take stock of the fortune we have known and the kindnesses we have shared, grateful for the God-given bounty that enriches our lives… Let us spend this day by lifting up those we love, mindful of the grace bestowed upon us by God and by all who have made our lives richer with their presence.” But if atheist activists had their way, the President’s words would be censored from the classroom.

And when it comes to Christmas, many educators have been so intimated by atheist threats they censor traditional Christmas carols and references to the birth of Jesus. Consequently, the lesson students absorb is that Christmas is just a merry commercial enterprise.

During the Christmas season last year, the atheist extremists of the Freedom From Religion Foundation couldn’t resist trying to be offensive to Christians in Arlington Heights, IL, who got proper permission to set up a Nativity scene in a park. Instead of merely setting up their own display celebrating some atheist holiday in an expression of multicultural diversity, these extremists put up a display directly across from the Nativity scene with a heartwarming banner that read: “There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth & superstition that hardens hearts & enslaves minds.”

Hopefully this year school boards and town councils won’t join the atheists in singing “’Tis the Season for Censorship.”

Atheist Group Sues to Impose Its Values on Others

The atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) recently attacked a South Carolina school board for opening its meetings with an invocation. They find it unacceptable that a group of elected officials begin their meetings with an invocation like the one board member Beth Watson recently offered: "Our Creator and Sustainer, we pray for the health and well-being of our students and their families. We pray for all our employees who work so hard on behalf of all our students." However, the school board's prayer is in keeping with the practice established by Congress and upheld by the courts, and reflects the sentiment of South Carolina's constitution which begins "grateful to God for our liberties."

Our friends at the Alliance Defending Freedom have written an excellent defense of the practice of public meetings opening with prayer. Attorneys Brett Harvey and David Cortman remind us that:

The central case on this subject is Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983), where the Court approved the Nebraska Legislature’s practice of opening each day of its sessions with a prayer by a chaplain paid with taxpayer dollars. Marsh has been repeatedly mischaracterized by some advocacy groups in recent months, but its holding is clear. In Marsh, Chief Justice Burger concluded:

The opening of sessions of legislative and other deliberative public bodies with prayer is deeply embedded in the history and tradition of this country. From colonial times through the founding of the Republic and ever since, the practice of legislative prayer has coexisted with the principles of disestablishment and religious freedom.

In fact, the Court noted that agreement was reached on the final language of the Bill of Rights on September 25, 1789, just three days after Congress authorized opening prayers by paid chaplains. Clearly then, “To invoke divine guidance on a public body . . . is not, in these circumstances, an ‘establishment’ of religion or a step toward establishment; it is simply a tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the people of this country.”

We need to keep in mind that the Freedom From Religion Foundation is not some benign group that merely wants to maintain what it thinks should be a separation of Church and State. FFRF is an aggressively anti-religious organization that sees religion as a threat to civilization. For instance, it characterizes the Ten Commandments as epitomizing "the childishness, the vindictiveness, the sexism, the inflexibility and the inadequacies of the bible as a book of morals." It encourages people to abandon their faith and its website offers a "DeBaptismal Certificate" which states "I categorically reject the creeds, dogmas, and superstitions of my former religion."

President George Washington in his Farewell Address on September 19, 1796 urged the nation:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. . . . The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them."

Thomas Jefferson, whose statement about a separation of Church and State atheists love to misinterpret, gave America this warning (which is carved into his memorial in Washington, D.C.):

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?"

Make no mistake, Atheists groups like FFRF do not want to merely preserve a so-called separation of Church and State. They want to remake America into something that the Founders never intended, and which, as they warned, will destroy the fabric and freedom of the nation.