Public School Singles Out 4th Grader's Christian Message for Censorship
by Mary Rettig and Jody Brown
November 3, 2004
(AgapePress) - A fourth-grader in Liverpool, New York, was denied the fight to hand out a "personal statement" flyer outside of class because of its religious viewpoint.Michaela Bloodgood made a flyer containing her Christian faith testimony to pass out to her friends and classmates. The flyer stated who she is and shared her relationship with Jesus Christ. "I would like to tell you about my life and how Jesus Christ gave me a new one," the flyer stated. "I asked Him to come into my heart and save me from my sins. This is what He has done for me."
The flyer then proceeded to share how Jesus restored her parents' marriage, helped her to memorize scripture and to learn how to play the piano, and gave her "victory over thinking about something bad" that had happened to her. In addition, the flyer said now that she had been saved, she has peace in her heart and knows she is going to heaven "instead of the other place."
Mat Staver | |
But according to Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, Nate Perry Elementary School said Michaela could not distribute the flyer because people might perceive it as the school's endorsement of Christianity. "She gets this kind of literature all the time that they allow other classmates to pass out," he says, "but she can't even give her own personal statement to her friends. And this really is just telling her friends who she is and about her life and sharing a religious message about her relationship with Jesus Christ."Staver, whose firm is representing Bloodgood, is arguing that the school officials, by not treating Michaela in the same way that other students are treated, are violating her rights. He explains: "The school's policies and practices are unconstitutional. It's a violation of the First Amendment because the school has discriminated against Michaela on the basis of her religious viewpoint. We've had other cases like this, and we've won those cases."
The Liberty Counsel attorney says the idea of school endorsement of all of these materials is absurd, and this is just another case of free-speech rights being trampled. He adds that religious speech is constitutionally protected even in public schools, and Nate Perry Elementary had no right to single out Michaela's religious literature for "disfavored treatment."
