An elementary school principal in the town of Benton, Arkansas is in hot water for allowing representatives from Gideon's to visit classrooms with Bibles. Ann Kerr thought, she says, that since the Bibles were only left there for children (children!) to take if they wanted that she was not violating the constitutional separation of church and state.The blog of the Arkansas Times does a great job responding to her argument, and the school district's initial scrambling response:
What's so hard to figure out? They need only consult the 1973 ruling by federal Judge Oren Harris that told the Cross County School district that its practice of allowing the Gideons to come speak to the fifth graders was unconstitutional. It was a long time ago — 36 years — but not forgettable.
Principal Kerr, who believed that because the Bibles were only left behind and not actually handed to children made the practice legal, should note what Harris wrote: “The Court has already determined that the Bible is an instrument of religion. The fact that it only contains the King James Version of the New Testament, Book of Psalms, and the Book of Proverbs, does not change the religious character of the Gideon's presentation to fifth grade students. The fact that a student is not required to accept the presentation is of no significance. …"
