True or False:
A. A Sikh student can wear a ceremonial daggar to school.
B. A Catholic student can give a talk in class on how she learned to pray the rosary.
C. A Jewish boy can come to school wearing a yarmulke.
D. A teacher can come to school wearing a T-shirt that says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
According to an expert in First Amendment rights, except item D, all are true.
Oliver "Buzz" Thomas, a lawyer, Baptist minister, and former school board chairman from Greenville, TN, spoke recently to educators of the Midwest City/ Del City and Norman school district telling them that students do not have to leave their religion at the door when they arrive at school.
"Teachers and administrators, however, must avoid promoting a religious viewpoint or making students feel coerced into joining a religious activity at school," Thomas said.
"Students are a captive audience," said Thomas, who is affiliated with the First Amendment Center of Nashville, TN. "That's why the Gideons can't come in and hand out Bibles to everybody."
However, students are free to bring their own Bibles to school, free to pray together, and can set religious pamphlets on a table for other students to pick up.I just want it to end. We both deserve one last chance to get it right.