The Bible Club also felt that some of the information stated was incorrect. Without getting into a twenty page discourse over the legal ramifications regarding “The separation of Church and State,” we simply want to educate students regarding their First Amendment rights. We also want to make a disclaimer that the Bible Club did not intend any disrespect towards our school administration despite what local papers may have inferred.

The First Amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The First Amendment right to the “free exercise” of religion, established in 1791, is at the crux of every legal debate of religious expression within the public schools since that time. The 14th amendment, which was established in 1868, ensured that individual First Amendment rights would be enforced in every state. This amendment also ensured that “due process” be granted to every citizen when challenging the law and that all members of our society would be equally protected by our laws.

The purpose of the Bible Club in pursuing legal advice was only to insure that the individual rights of the students were not being over looked. In the famous Supreme Court case Tinker v. DesMoines Schools (1969), the justices clearly stated that students do not leave their First Amendment civil rights “at the school house door.” The entire concept of “the separation of Church and State” was a new ideal: freedom of religion not from religion.

This ideal stemmed from an existing conflict in the colonies during the time of Thomas Jefferson, as the Viper Vibe duly noted. The Baptists were being persecuted within the Puritan church, and so this group of non-conformist established the state of Rhode Island to find a place to worship as their conscience dictated. Their leader, Roger Williams, was highly influential in making sure that a Bill of Rights was established along with the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson writes to the Baptist Conference at Danbury, Connecticut in 1802:

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God: that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of the Government reach actions only, and not opinion, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, “thus building a wall of separation between Church and State” (Bryson 1990, pg. 20).

The desire of the Baptists at that time was to keep the government out of the religious houses and affairs of its people, not that religious people would not have a place in government, or that its schools would be devoid of religious influence. Since that time the pendulum of legal decisions have ranged from endorsing public funds for private institutions (Cochcran v. Louisiana St. Bd, 1930) to the total discouragement of prayer in schools in (Engel v. Vitale, 1962). In fact, there have been more court decisions made during the mid-late 1990’s than the entire 180 year history of our country prior to that point.Under President Reagan and Clinton the sentiment toward religious freedom within public domain began to change. Consequently, the pendulum has begun to swing back towards the protection of religious freedoms in the late 1990’s.

The Equal Access Act of 1995 issued by the Department of Education in 1998 was a direct result of the case of the Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens in 1990. Simply stated the Equal Access Act grants the same access to all extra-curricular groups or to have no groups on campus. The Act includes the distribution of literature, use of the PA, and the ability to wear clothing with a message. Controversies surrounding “the separation of Church and State” issues over the years have resulted in some school officials, teachers, and parents nationwide assuming that religious expression of any type is either inappropriate or forbidden altogether in public schools. Consequently, Religious Guidelines Regarding Religion in the Public Schools was published and distributed nationally to school districts in 1998, as a result of Chandler v. James (Alabama, 1997).

Richard Riley, U.S Secretary of Education, stated in the preamble to this document, “Our public schools can neither further religion nor preclude it. Our public schools must treat religion with fairness and respect and vigorously protect religious expression as well as the freedom of conscience of all other students. In so doing our public schools reaffirm the First Amendment and enrich the lives of their students.”

The action the Bible Club took was to ensure the rights of its students to: 1) Choose their own name for their club, 2) To meet with adult supervision, 3) To have shirts and materials printed that represented the Bible Club, 4) To have the club’s yearbook picture taken in the same manner as all of the other non-curriculum school clubs. While all of these student right’s have now been instated in congruence with the Religious Guidelines Regarding Religion in the Public Schools, they had been previously debated and discouraged over the course of this school year.

In conclusion, our ultimate goal was to insure the religious freedom of our students and to point out that Constitutional rights supercede state laws or school policies. Often student rights are over looked due to a lack of knowledge regarding our Constitution and the freedoms that it affords to all of its citizens.

The Bible Club thanks the administration for its continued support and encouragement of its students in the pursuit of learning regarding all aspects of our education.

Submitted by Elizabeth Alboniga

Bible Club President

To see our original article, please visit our website arcive and see issues 6 ,Vol. 2