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School sued for church graduation ceremony
Filed under: Day Care & Education
Yet another school is being sued for mixing public school and religion. West Side High School in New Jersey held their graduation ceremonies in a Baptist church, and now they're being sued by the ACLU.
The civil liberties organization say the decision violated the religious freedom of Bill Shareef, a Muslim student. Shareef's faith dictates that he cannot enter a building with religious images, and thus, he was not able to attend his own graduation.
Not only was the school district's decision insensitive to one of it's students, but it also violated a number of provisions in the state constitution that keep public institutions -- like state funded schools -- from showing preference to one religious sect over another, compelling people to attend a place of worship, and segregating or discriminating against public school students because of the religious principals.
This is the second time West Side High School has tried to force a particular set of religious beliefs on the student body. The New Jersey branch of the ACLU threatened legal action after the school held graduation at the New Hope Baptist church in 2005, but didn't sue after officials agreed that they wouldn't hold the ceremony at a religious location again. However, not only was graduation held at New Hope in 2006, but the principal went so far as to offer additional tickets to those who would attend a separate religious baccalaureate ceremony for the class at a Roman Catholic church.
When will schools finally accept that public education and religion are separate?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-09-2007 @ 7:25PM
Jason said...When will anti-religious bigots get over themselves? If the church has an auditorium or gymnasium that doesn't have any religious images in it, then there shouldn't be a problem. The government can't force you to believe any particular religion, but that doesn't mean you have a right to be free from religious images.
My daughter's school has their "Holiday Concert" in a Baptist church every year. I'm not aware that anybody has ever complained.
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3-09-2007 @ 9:02PM
SKL said...Shouldn't they change all the public school bus routes so they never pass a church / mosque / temple? And they need to black out the windows during Christmas season so the kids aren't bombarded by all the nativity scenes in people's yards. I mean, let's have some consideration for people's sensitivities, folks!
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