"Protecting" Students from God.The Internet website of the left-wing People For the American Way People For the American Way (PFAW) is a progressive advocacy organization in the United States. Under U.S. tax code, PFAW is organized as a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) non-profit organization. The current president of PFAW is Ralph Neas. warns: "As a new school year begins across the country, parents, students, teachers and school officials in many districts will find themselves confronted by right-wing efforts to violate religious liberty in public schools. These efforts include promotion of improper 'Bible as history' classes or Bible classes that present the Bible from a religious perspective." Norman Lear's PFAW PFAW People For the American Way (first amendment advocacy and watchdog group; founded in 1980 by Norman Lear) militant leftists have never had any problems, of course, with school materials attacking the Bible, Christianity, or Christian morality from an anti-religious perspective. The PFAW alarm states further: "Religious right organizations are also trying to convince school districts to display posters in schools proclaiming the message 'In God We Trust.'" Horrors! Dr. John Bolton, professor of systematic theology at Calvin Theological Seminary Calvin Theological Seminary is a seminary affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and closely tied to Calvin College, though each institution has its own board. Dr. Cornelius Plantinga is currently president of the school. in Grand Rapids, Michigan “Grand Rapids” redirects here. For other uses, see Grand Rapids (disambiguation). Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 197,800. , skewers the concerns of the PFAW "protectors" in a commentary for the Acton Institute. "What seems to terrify ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. these protectors most' he notes, "is not the danger of drugs, violence, the sexualizing of young children, or even teacher incompetence -- things about which most parents are concerned. Rather, these protectors aim to keep America's impressionable youth from corruption by -- God!" Reminding readers that PFAW defends the "right" of children to use school Internet access to view pornography and other inappropriate material, Bolton says: "[W]e have here another example of the political Left's bias against liberty itself (in the name of liberty!).... [T]his passion to control what may be discussed or read in a classroom is well entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. in politically correct curricula." Continues Bolton: "Censorship of Web browsing, they claim, is a violation of a student's First Amendment rights. However, I hav e to question any movement that seeks to repress re·press v. 1. To hold back by an act of volition. 2. To exclude something from the conscious mind. the display of 'In God We Trust' posters but strikes a free-speech pose when it comes to protecting children from potentially inappropriate Web content." |
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