While much of the country is focused on issues relating to the teaching of evolution in public schools, a number of other church-state issues top the agendas of various public schools around the country. Here are three examples:
In Raleigh, North Carolina, an activist Christian group has complained that an elementary school unconstitutionally promotes "New Age" beliefs through its stress-reduction class. Elementary school students were asked to do breathing exercises, chant and use their "life forces". The Sacramento Bee reports on the dispute. The organization promoting the classes, Rites of Passage Youth Empowerment Foundation, says it is not involved in religion; it merely enhances students' learning practices.
In Anna, Illinois, a local pastor is collecting signatures to urge the city's junior high school to put back up a painting of The Last Supper and two portraits of Jesus that the school took down earlier this school year. The Southern yesterday reported that the pictures were removed after Americans United For Separation of Church and State threatened to sue. Now the Alliance Defense fund threatens to sue if the school does not return the pictures to its hallway.
And in Kirkland, Washington, Lake Washington High School has its plate full of church-state issues. The Stranger reports that Antioch Bible Church, a conservative anti-gay congregation, rents the school's gym every Sunday to use for religious services. The school district's sex education program is supplemented by an abstinence presentation from a group called SHARE—an affiliate of the religiously based group Life Choices. The SHARE lecture is taught by volunteers, some of whom are recruited from Antioch Bible Church. Then last June, students in the pre-school program that is affiliated with the high school all received a copy of "10 commandments" at their graduation-- not the traditional ones, but still ones that were religious. They instructed parents to "please take me to church regularly" and to realize their kids are "a special gift from God."
