Take Action to Stop Religious Intolerance in Schools
Sign Petition on Tolerance in Indian River School District
A Jewish family living in southern Delaware was forced to move 2 hours away to flee the promotion of Christianity in their public schools. When the family raised the issue within the school district, their children became the subject of anti-Semitic slurs. We call on all people of faith, especially Christians, to support freedom of religion and tolerance in our public schools.
Send a message to the Superintendent of the Indian River School District by Signing the Petition
Get the latest udate from jewsonfirst.org here
The Concerns of the Family Regarding Intolerance
The family has since filed a lawsuit against the Indian River School District that alleges an environment of "religious exclusion" including:
- The district's "custom and practice of school-sponsored prayer" frequently imposed ... on impressionable non-Christian students," violating their constitutional rights.
- The district ignored the Supreme Court's 1992 Lee decision limiting prayer at graduation ceremonies -- even after a district employee complained about the prayer at her child's 2003 graduation.
- District teachers and staff led Bible clubs at several schools. Club members got to go to the head of the lunch line.
- While Bible clubs were widely available, student book clubs were rare and often canceled by the district.
- When Jane Doe complained that her non-Christian son "Jordan Doe" was left alone when his classmates when to Bible club meetings, district staff insisted that Jordan should attend the club regardless of his religion.
- The district schools attended by Jordan and his sister "Jamie Doe" distributed Bibles to students in 2003, giving them time off from class to pick up the books.
- Prayer --often sectarian -- is a routine part of district sports programs and social events
- One of the district's middle schools gave students the choice of attending a special Bible Club if they did not want to attend the lesson on evolution.
- A middle school teacher told students there was only "one true religion" and gave them pamphlets for his surfing ministry.
- Samantha Dobrich's honors English teacher frequently discussed Christianity, but no other religion.
- Students frequently made mandatory appearances at district board meetings -- where they were a captive audience for board members' prayers to Jesus.
CrossLeft is working with Talk2Action and JewsOnFirst to support religious tolerance. Click here for more information about the situation in Delaware.
We thank Rev. Dr. Bruce Prescott who developed a wonderful statement on religious tolerance that we are using for our petition.
Comments
update on Indian River School District
We participated in the petition drive a couple of years ago. thought folks would like to know how it was resolved:
Jews responding to the Christian right -
because if Jews don't speak out, they'll think we don't mind
We have just posted an interview with "Jane Doe," whose family was one of the two Jewish families who sued a Delaware school district for unconstitutionally sponsoring religion. The families announced today that they have reached a negotiated settlement with the district.
JewsOnFirst broke the story of this case in June 2006, with a report about the local community's hostility to appeals for respect for religious minorities. One Jewish family moved out of the community to avoid harassment. The Doe family managed to remain in the community because the court granted them the protection of anonymity.
But it wasn't easy. In the interview Jane Doe talks about how difficult it was for her family to hear elected officials ridculing them in the media without being able to respond. She also recounts how the district proselytized, pressured and discriminated against Jewish children. Please click here www.jewsonfirst.org/08a/indian_river_settlement.html to read our interview with "Jane Doe" and details of the settlement.
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