Ministry Leader Sees Public Schools Stepping Up Censorship of Pro-Life Viewpoint
by Jim Brown
December 26, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The head of a Christ-centered pro-life ministry that works with youth says public schools are becoming bolder in their efforts to censor pro-life students. Virginia high school senior Andrew Raker has sued the Frederick County School system in Winchester for barring him from wearing a pro-life T-shirt and passing out pro-life materials on campus. The youth was taking part in a national pro-life event called the "Day of Silent Solidarity," which is sponsored by Stand-True Ministries.
Brian Kemper, president of Stand True, says a growing number of schools are taking aggressive action against students who want to share their pro-life views. "Every year that we do events like the pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity," he notes, "more and more schools try to censor the kids and tell them they can't do it."
And unfortunately, Kemper adds, "there's so many times where parents just tell their kids, 'Well, go ahead and don't do it, then; don't make any waves,' or 'Don't try to fight the system.'" However, the ministry spokesman disagrees. "When the system is wrong," he asserts, "we need to stand up for our rights."
The more schools take away the rights of pro-life students, the harder it becomes to fight for those rights, Kemper observes. But schools are bound, he says, by the Constitution of the United States to allow students to express their opposition to abortion, so long as they do so in a non-disruptive manner.
Still, the Stand True spokesman says, that is not the reality on many campuses. "It's kind of a sad case," he contends, "when you've got kids who can wear Marilyn Manson shirts that have all kinds of disgusting messages on them, but when they wear a positive, life message, the school will discriminate against them."
Kemper says what America has is "a backwards situation in our public schools right now." He encourages pro-lifers to speak out and to fight against government or other secularist attempts to censor their message, which is protected by the First Amendment.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-family legal defense organization, filed suit on behalf of Andrew Raker. The ADF attorneys representing the high school senior say they plan to file a series of complaints against public schools that blocked students from expressing their pro-life views on the Day of Silent Solidarity.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
