NKC School District Considers Bible Elective . .More than 900 NKC parents and students have asked the NKC School District administration and the NKC School Board to give students in the district’s three high schools the opportunity to study the Bible as an elective course. The proposed Bible course would use the curriculum developed and provided by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NCBCPS). Since the inception of NCBCPS in 1993, the organization’s curriculum has been adopted in school districts in 28 states. What will the proposed curriculum look like? 1) The curriculum is structured so that religion is neither enhanced or inhibited. 2) Inculcation and/or proselytization of any particular doctrine, dogma, religious belief or theory is prohibited. 3) The curriculum is objective and non-sectarian. 4) The approach is academic, not devotional. 5) The approach is to teach about religion, not to teach the practice of religion. 6) The approach is to teach the Bible as a foundational document of our society. 7) The curriculum is presented and taught with the same care and discipline as other academic courses. Why should the study of the Bible be offered as an elective in public schools? 1) The Bible has been the single most influential book in shaping Western culture. 2) The Bible was the blueprint for our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, our educational system and our entire history. 3) An understanding of the Bible opens up the understanding of our culture, our laws, our history and even our speech. 4) The study of the Bible will give our youth insight into the worldview of America’s founding fathers and will help them value religious liberty, the first freedom guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. 5) Our youth need to know and understand the importance of the Bible as it relates to our nation’s roots. Is the study of the Bible in public schools constitutional? 1) In Stone v. Graham (1980), the Supreme Court stated that “the Bible may constitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion , or the like.” 2) In Abington v. Schempp (1963), the Supreme Court reaffirmed that “[I]t certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities. Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.” Current Status of NKC Bible Elective: The NKC’s district Curriculum and
Instruction Council, after being presented with petitions signed by 922
district residents in favor of a Bible elective, recommended that the
NKC School Board reject the Bible elective proposal. District patrons
have now asked the NKC School Board to reconsider the Bible elective
proposal. If you are a student, parent, senior citizen or taxpayer in
the NKC school district and are in support of a nationally-proven Bible
elective being offered to students, please consider writing a letter
to Mr. Spencer Fields, President of the School Board, NCK
School District Administrative Building, 2000 NE 46th street, Kansas
City, MO 64116. (A sample form letter is available by calling Family
Watch at 455-8660). If you do not live in the NKC School District, but
would like to see the Bible offered as an elective in your school
district, please contact NCBCPS at 336/272-3799. [NCBCPS Fact Sheets,
1997]
Beauty Contestants Promote Abstinence . . .Three contestants in the Miss Illinois Beauty Pageant announced that their platforms would be to promote sexual abstinence to the youth of Illinois. Nineteen-year-old Erika Harold stated that she “believes very strongly in sexual abstinence because it empowers our youth to make the right decisions.” Maggie Johnson, 23, said that “a lot of teenagers engage in sex because they think it will give them self esteem or popularity. But the opposite it true. Abstaining from sex until a loving marriage also frees you from sexual diseases, a pregnancy too early in life, and from a broken heart.” Both Erika and Maggie are spokeswomen for Project Reality, a national organization that promotes abstinence until marriage. Founded in 1985, Project Reality has instructed over 42,000 students in 285 Illinois schools over the past year. For information about Project Reality, call 847/729-3298 or email at project-reality@pair.com.Homosexual Activist Appointed Ambassador . . .While Congress was on a 10-day Memorial Day recess, President Clinton used the Constitution’s recess appointment provision to make homosexual activist, James Hormel, ambassador to Luxembourg. Clinton’s action places Hormel in the post through the end of 2000, completely bypassing the Senate’s constitutional duty of confirming presidential nominees. Mr. Hormel was first nominated for that position during the 105th Congress, but his nomination died in the Senate without a vote being scheduled, because conservative Senators and pro-family activists were concerned about Mr. Hormel’s long-time homosexual activism. Mr. Hormel has been a major financier of homosexual causes, such as” 1) funding to produce the pro-homosexual documentary, “It’s Elementary,” a video used to indoctrinate elementary school teachers on how to promote the acceptance of homosexuality to their young students; 2) funding to help create the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay and lesbian political group; and 3) funding events that mock the Catholic Church in particular, and denigrate Jesus Christ. When questioned, Mr. Hormel has confirmed that he would have his latest homosexual lover serve in a diplomatic role at various official functions. Contact your two U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121 with your concerns about Mr. Hormel’s nomination.[Traditional Values Coalition Alert, 1999] President Proclaims “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month . . .President Clinton made pro-“gay” history on June 11, 1999, when he became the first U.S. president to proclaim a “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.” The Proclamation states that “gay and lesbian Americans serve openly and proudly throughout the Federal Government.”[Office of the Press Secretary, 6/11/99] |