Theocrats In My Back Yard
“The ACLU has an ongoing nationwide campaign to take away the right of any citizen legislator to speak and pray according to his conscience and religious tradition,” [Indian River school] board member Reggie Helms said following that vote. “My freedom of speech is too important to compromise or risk its loss. Our court case, where we have been standing up to the ACLU, provides the opportunity for the federal court to permanently uphold my right not to be treated as a second-class citizen, or to have to move to the back of the bus.”
(Source: Newszap.com/Sussex Post.)
This isn’t happening in Alabama or Kansas, but in Delaware, practically in my back yard.
For those who missed it, the Indian River School District, in the southeastern corner of Delaware (i.e., on the Eastern Shore),
is being sued (see also here) for illegally pushing Christianity: school-sponsored (Christian) prayer at games and school events, cancelling book clubs other than Bible clubs, letting Bible club members jump to the head of the lunch line, etc. The plaintiffs are two families, one Jewish, and one unknown, because they’ve filed as Jane and John Doe, for fear of being harrassed by their neighbors if their identity comes out.
The whole affair started some years ago. The suit was filed in 2004, so this isn’t exactly fresh news; but I just found out about it recently.
Now, I haven’t seen any court findings of fact or any reliable reports on this matter, so it’s possible that the plaintiffs are making stuff up or exaggerating. But the board member quotation at the top of this post is in line with what the American Taliban has been saying for years, which gives credence to what the plaintiffs are saying.
Then there’s a twist: the school board is being sued by its insurance company, for refusing to settle last year when it had the chance. So add that to the pile of evidence marked “Christian thuggery”.
There are also indications that the school district is countersuing the insurance company, but if true, that’s just asshattery.