A Pennsylvania school district is being taken to court for allegedly violating the free-speech rights of a parent who came to her sons kindergarten class to participate in Storytime during “me week” which gives the parents a chance to come to the classroom and read stories to the children from their own childs favorite book. Principal Thomas Cook of Rutherford Institute, a conservative christian oriented non-profit, has taken up her cause.
The school board has defended Principal Cook, stating that the law prevents advocacy or teaching of religion.
Here is the passage that she wished to read to the children (Psalm 118):
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say: “His love endures forever.”
5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!
16 The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!”
17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
I was inclined to agree that the school should have let her read from the bible, but given the selection of Psalm it seems unmistakably clear that the parent was looking for a confrontation and I have very little patience for someone using their kindergartener as a political prop like that. The point was to read a story. That isn’t a story. She was clearly seeking to use her son for advantage of her political ideology, and that just disgusts me.
Not only is it not a story, it would also be completely incomprehensible for a child.
oh, yeah. that’s from “Glassy-Eyed Super-Christian-Children’s Favorite Bible Verses.” Kids can really get into that. I would have been pissed if I was one of the kids having to listen to the lady read that in kindergarten.
Yeah, I’m agreeing with Brian and BStu here, as much as I personally would detest a bible story being read to my (hypothetical) child, I would agree to the right of her to do such (hell, gives me the right to turn up with ‘Heather has two Mommies’). But this isn’t a story, not by the longest possible stretch of the imagination.
This is a political ploy, and one that merely uses children for its ends. It’s perverted.
Would a child’s picture book with the story of the prodigal son be OK?
Definitely pissed. I’d see it as allowance to proselytize to my child without my permission. I’d see it as a gross misuse of time on the part of the school that violated church and state.
I’m fairly sure that if a parent went in and read Wicca passages, or Satanic verse, citing it as their child’s favorite, the Christian parents would be screaming at the top of their lungs. It’s not lack of respect for religion that keeps it out of schools, it’s respect for the freedom to practice the religion of your choice.
It’s propably the mother’s favorite bed time story since it puts the child right to sleep.
The weird thing is there are actual stories in the Bible she could have read. Possibly the one where Lot gets drunk and has sex with his daughters? The one where King David has his mistress’s husband killed? There are so many possibilities in the children’s classic known as the Bible.
I just feel sorry for that woman’s kid.
I’m honestly not sure what would be a better “two can play at that game” story.
so: Penthouse Forum, or Herbert West, Re-animator?
I heard that woman interviewed on NPR. She said that all she wanted was to read her son’s “favorite story” and that the school reads from Jewish texts and so forth. The school responded that they are very careful to read stories that explore customs of different religions and their celebrations, not straight from religious texts. I’m so afraid this will happen in my daughter’s school. The kindnergartners also have a “superstar week” and parents read stories. I read “Dog Breath”.
Ahhh, yes, every child’s favorite psalms. Why, I remember as a 5 year old telling my mother and father, ‘screw that Winnie the Pooh wimp, I want to hear some hellfire and brimstone, read to me from Revelations, please!’
7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
Yes indeedy, every five year old’s favorite.
PS: I’d heard that she had called this his favorite story too, but wasn’t aware she did it on NPR. This woman is a flat out whack-a-nutter.
Why couldn’t she have read the sermon on the mount or something? Or, like the children’s Bible stories?
I’m all for reading bible stories, but the flip side is I get to read pagan myths. This was just stupid, but it should be dropped and the world can go on.
Amanda is (as is usually the case) right. I regret missing Purim this year — that stuff about Mordecai killing Hamen’s kids is good entertainment (though Mordecai is probably based on Marduk and Esther is probably based on Ishtar). The Bible has some interesting stories in it. These stories are not found in Psalms: maybe in Judges, Esther, Revelations, and some other places.
Hey, if you want a good Bible story for kids, what about the passages with Noah and the Ark? It’s got a boat, it’s got animals, how can you go wrong? :-)
“Why couldn’t she have reas the Sermon on the Mount or something?”
Here’s why:
Hell. I need not go on with the rest of the outrageous comments in this “lovely” sermon. . There is no righteousness in the philosophy of anyone who believes in and advocates hell as any possible kind of justice. Yet even atheists say Jesus is a wise teacher. Insanity. Would that be good for five year-olds?
Hey now! “Even atheists” don’t say Jesus was a wise teacher… we say he was a typical Essene-esque messianic claimant of his day, one of hundreds. The only atheists who call Jesus a “wise teacher” are ones trying to placate a Christian so they’ll shut the hell up.
I agree the teacher had a right to read a Bible story in the class, but to read blatant religious propaganda and try to call it “a story” is insanity, she’s just a wingnut. If she had half a brain and wasn’t just trying to push some ideology, she’d have seeded the children with the “Noah’s Ark” meme, as someone already pointed out. Animals and boats, so appealing to kids.
I do think it’s sketchy at best to allow a parent to read from the Bible in that situation, but should be allowed because I have a hard time banning ANYTHING. But I’d like to have seen her look me in the eyes and say that was her child’s “favorite story” with a straight face.
I think “Heather Has Two Mommies” is an excellent choice– feed them some of their own medicine, so to speak.
I like the idea of an all-out story war. The non-wingnuts could use that creation myth from Lem’s The Star Diaries — you know, the one where the human race is created by two obnoxious adolescent-type aliens named Gord and Lod. That one’s got all the ingredients of a hit: spaceships, bodily-function humor, aliens yelling at each other, and funny invented words. And it’d drive the wingnuts nuts.