Mich. school district rejects fundamentalist Bible course.A Michigan school board has snubbed a Bible course created by a Religious Right organization. In January, the Howell Public Schools Board of Education was asked by a parent to implement a Bible elective from the North Carolina-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NCBCPS) is a nonprofit organization that promotes the use of its 300-page Bible curriculum, The Bible in History and Literature, in schools throughout the United States. . On Jan. 8, Wendy Day, a board member, proposed the curriculum, but her motion failed to garner a second from any of the other members. Americans United for Separation of Church and State Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is a religious freedom advocacy group in the United States which promotes the separation of church and state, a legal doctrine seen by the AU as being enshrined in the Establishment , which has long opposed the National Council's curriculum, sent a letter urging rejection of the course. "We are particularly concerned about the fact that the curriculum that the Board is considering adopting was designed by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools--a private religious organization created to spread the Christian faith," wrote AU Litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. Counsel Aram Schvey in the Jan. 5 letter. "Attempting to proselytize, as the Council does, is permitted to a private group but not to the public schools." The National Council is aligned with Religious Right groups such as the Alliance Defense Fund The Alliance Defense Fund ("ADF") is a conservative Christian non-profit organization with the stated goal of "defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation. and the American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values.[1][2][3][4] It was founded in 1977 by Rev. . The group's Web site promotes the Religious Right canard ca·nard n. 1. An unfounded or false, deliberately misleading story. 2. a. A short winglike control surface projecting from the fuselage of an aircraft, such as a space shuttle, mounted forward of the main wing and of America as a Christian nation. The Council asserts, "The Bible was the foundation and blueprint for our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, our educational system, and our entire history until the last 20 or 30 years." (In fact, neither the Declaration nor the Constitution refers to the Bible.) At the public meeting, the Howell board heard from supporters and opponents of the curriculum. Hal Downs, president of the Americans United Michigan chapter, reminded the Board that religion is properly taught in homes and houses of worship. Bringing religion into schools, Downs said, would harm religion. |
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