Nbadan
12-12-2004, 04:52 AM
When I heard that a teacher was suing the principal at Stevens Creek Elementary School for not allowing him to use the Declaration of Independence in class because it contained references to God, I laughed. This is so silly, I thought. "It's ridiculous," I said. "It's taking political correctness way too far."
Our reporter planned to follow up the story for the next week's issue of the Cupertino Courier.
When I rolled into work the next Monday, however, the story was taking on a whole new dimension, one that is hardly funny and has given me a lot of pause about what a small bit of uninvestigated information and certain buzz words in today's world can do.
This story had gone international. We were receiving angry emails from all over the country, people furious that a principal would bar the Declaration of Independence from the fifth-grade curriculum because it mentioned God.
So, in effect, we stopped the presses last Monday. (That's the day we proof our papers for Wednesday's publication.) We hurriedly got what little information we could from the school district. We learned that, in fact, the principal and district were not barring teachers in the school from teaching the Declaration of Independence. So we knew there was more to the story, but we couldn't connect with the school or the teacher, Stephen Williams, who was bringing the lawsuit. We did find out that Williams' lawyer was supplied by a Christian advocacy group.
That was Monday; we published what we knew.
We also knew the school because earlier this year we'd done a story on their reenactment of the Revolutionary War. We recalled that they even sang "God Save the King" at the event.
On Wednesday as the emails kept rolling in here, I finally was able to talk to a teacher at the school who described what was happening there.
She said the school was being pounded by faxes, emails and telephone calls of the most obscene language she'd ever heard. The school staff was shocked and felt betrayed and embarrassed. She said that she was a Christian—Episcopalian—and had never been barred from using the Declaration of Independence in class. She said, in fact, that the entire document is printed in the textbook.
By then we had a copy of the court document filed by Williams' lawyers. Now we knew more. According to the documents, Williams is claiming that the principal discriminated against him because he is an "orthodox" Christian. Included in the material we now had, were copies of the handouts, including the first three paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence, Williams used to supplement his lessons. The handouts focus heavily on prayer and religion in history.
So there might be more to the story than extreme political correctness. But the other side was getting no press, and of course, all issues have more than one side.
Even Williams is astounded at the hate mail coming into the school. According to Williams, he only expected some discomfort between himself and the principal, a trial and then the issue would be settled.
So what was this fury raining down on Stevens Creek Elementary School from around the country?
Here are some thoughts:
No matter what his or her political or religious persuasion is, to any American, the Declaration of Independence and other founding-father documents are akin to the sacred. Put out a message that a principal won't let a teacher use the Declaration of Independence in class just because it mentions the word God, and Americans will rise up in fury, most especially those Christians who already believe schools have banished God from schools in a misguided effort to be politically correct.
Can there be any question that those whose agenda is to break down the barriers between church and state had a hand in sensationalizing this story? The Alliance Defense Fund, the organization that is supplying Williams with legal resources, is an advocacy group that according to its website " ... provides resources that will keep the door open for the spread of the gospel through legal defense ..."
One only has to go to the home page of the Alliance Defense Fund to see its tactics. The headline there is "Declaration of Independence Banned from Classroom."
And therein lies the problem. We all jump up and scream before we even think. This headline must have been sent out when the lawsuit was being filed because, before the story hit Bay Area news, it was the subject of such national talk show hosts as Rush Limbaugh.
But what's most disheartening to me is the media has helped further this hate-filled reaction because it has failed to looked into the other side of the story. Certainly Williams has a right to challenge district policy, and more power to him. But the efforts of the Alliance Defense Fund to rile up people into what could be called a "virtual" lynch mob suggests that there's a bigger agenda. As it stands now, the principal, the school, the district, even California have been tried and convicted with no one hearing the other side of the story.
Believe me; I'm no longer laughing.
Cupertino Courier (http://www.cupertinocourier.com/cu-op-sandy.shtml)
Our reporter planned to follow up the story for the next week's issue of the Cupertino Courier.
When I rolled into work the next Monday, however, the story was taking on a whole new dimension, one that is hardly funny and has given me a lot of pause about what a small bit of uninvestigated information and certain buzz words in today's world can do.
This story had gone international. We were receiving angry emails from all over the country, people furious that a principal would bar the Declaration of Independence from the fifth-grade curriculum because it mentioned God.
So, in effect, we stopped the presses last Monday. (That's the day we proof our papers for Wednesday's publication.) We hurriedly got what little information we could from the school district. We learned that, in fact, the principal and district were not barring teachers in the school from teaching the Declaration of Independence. So we knew there was more to the story, but we couldn't connect with the school or the teacher, Stephen Williams, who was bringing the lawsuit. We did find out that Williams' lawyer was supplied by a Christian advocacy group.
That was Monday; we published what we knew.
We also knew the school because earlier this year we'd done a story on their reenactment of the Revolutionary War. We recalled that they even sang "God Save the King" at the event.
On Wednesday as the emails kept rolling in here, I finally was able to talk to a teacher at the school who described what was happening there.
She said the school was being pounded by faxes, emails and telephone calls of the most obscene language she'd ever heard. The school staff was shocked and felt betrayed and embarrassed. She said that she was a Christian—Episcopalian—and had never been barred from using the Declaration of Independence in class. She said, in fact, that the entire document is printed in the textbook.
By then we had a copy of the court document filed by Williams' lawyers. Now we knew more. According to the documents, Williams is claiming that the principal discriminated against him because he is an "orthodox" Christian. Included in the material we now had, were copies of the handouts, including the first three paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence, Williams used to supplement his lessons. The handouts focus heavily on prayer and religion in history.
So there might be more to the story than extreme political correctness. But the other side was getting no press, and of course, all issues have more than one side.
Even Williams is astounded at the hate mail coming into the school. According to Williams, he only expected some discomfort between himself and the principal, a trial and then the issue would be settled.
So what was this fury raining down on Stevens Creek Elementary School from around the country?
Here are some thoughts:
No matter what his or her political or religious persuasion is, to any American, the Declaration of Independence and other founding-father documents are akin to the sacred. Put out a message that a principal won't let a teacher use the Declaration of Independence in class just because it mentions the word God, and Americans will rise up in fury, most especially those Christians who already believe schools have banished God from schools in a misguided effort to be politically correct.
Can there be any question that those whose agenda is to break down the barriers between church and state had a hand in sensationalizing this story? The Alliance Defense Fund, the organization that is supplying Williams with legal resources, is an advocacy group that according to its website " ... provides resources that will keep the door open for the spread of the gospel through legal defense ..."
One only has to go to the home page of the Alliance Defense Fund to see its tactics. The headline there is "Declaration of Independence Banned from Classroom."
And therein lies the problem. We all jump up and scream before we even think. This headline must have been sent out when the lawsuit was being filed because, before the story hit Bay Area news, it was the subject of such national talk show hosts as Rush Limbaugh.
But what's most disheartening to me is the media has helped further this hate-filled reaction because it has failed to looked into the other side of the story. Certainly Williams has a right to challenge district policy, and more power to him. But the efforts of the Alliance Defense Fund to rile up people into what could be called a "virtual" lynch mob suggests that there's a bigger agenda. As it stands now, the principal, the school, the district, even California have been tried and convicted with no one hearing the other side of the story.
Believe me; I'm no longer laughing.
Cupertino Courier (http://www.cupertinocourier.com/cu-op-sandy.shtml)