An Oklahoma public school has stopped giving free Bibles to students who request them after an anti-religion group threatened a lawsuit.
The virulent anti-religion group American Humanist Association (AHA) sent a complaint to Duncan Public Schools over the distribution of the Bibles. The legal counsel for the schools replied to the humanist group that the Bible distribution would be stopped because of their complaint.
“All teachers and administrators in the district are being advised that they are not permitted to distribute Bibles or other religious materials to students in class or during class time,” wrote Scott W. Stone.
“Teachers and administrators in the district are being advised that they should not attempt to persuade students to take Bibles or other religious materials during class time.”
This is the second time the school has been threatened by the AHA. A third-grade teacher drew the ire of the group when she offered Gideon bibles to her students if they wanted to take one.
A major anti-Christian organization has sent letters to school districts across Oklahoma threatening them if they do not stop Bible distributions in their schools.
The anti-Chrsitian Freedom From Religion Foundation sent letters to 26 school districts after they were told Gideon International had given Bibles to schools for students who wanted to read them.
“It is unconstitutional for public school districts to permit the distribution of Bibles as part of the public school day,” the letter, written by Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel, reads. “Courts have uniformly held that the distribution of bibles to students at public schools is prohibited.”
The anti-Christian group then compared the Gideons to child predators.
Jamison Faught of the Gideons told New American that the giving of Bibles is voluntary.
“We don’t force Bibles on anybody. We simply ask if anyone would like them,” he said.
None of the schools have yet responded to the anti-Christian group’s demands.
A Missouri middle school student has been banned from reading his Bible during free class time.
Loyal Grandstaff, 12, attends Bueker Middle School in Marshall, Missouri. Last month, he was reading his Bible quietly to himself during free time in class when his teacher confronted him.
“I was just reading,” he told local television station WDAF. “I was reading because I had free time. I had time to do what I wanted to, so I just broke it out and read. … I like to read my Bible because it’s a good book.”
“He doesn’t want me reading it in his class because he doesn’t believe in it,” Grandstaff said.
The boy’s father said that the teacher is violating his child’s rights.
“I feel like it violated his freedom of religion but also his freedom of speech,” Justin Grandstaff told reporters. “There’s kids walking around disrespecting their teachers, kids walking around cussing and everything else, and they’re practically getting into no trouble at all.”
Principal Lance Tobin said that he will be investigating the matter because “Bibles are not banned on campus.”
A new law passed in Saudi Arabia could impose the death sentence on people who bring Bibles into the country and anyone else who distributes information about a religion that is not Islam.
“The new law extends to the importing of all illegal drugs and ‘all publications that have a prejudice to any other religious beliefs other than Islam,’” Paul Washer’s HeartCry Missionary Society outlines in a post on their website. “In other words, anyone who attempts to bring Bibles or gospel literature into the country will have all materials confiscated and be imprisoned and sentenced to death.”
The Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington has been refusing to confirm or deny the new law.
Members of the HeartCry Missionary Society reminded Christian News about the fact Christians in Saudi Arabia are routinely harassed by Muslims with virtual immunity.
“Christians are raped, abducted, murdered, and beaten on a daily basis. Saudis who accept Christ as their Savior are choosing to pick up a cross of ostracism, discrimination, harassment, and even death,” it outlines. “They risk losing their jobs, access to education for their children, or even the right to basic utilities like water and electricity.”
The Open Doors International list of the 100 most dangerous places for a Christian to live has Saudi Arabia at number 6.
A group of Australians are calling for the Bible to be banned at retail outlets that are refusing to carry a sexually explicit, violent video game.
The anti-Bible group is claiming that the Bible is just as bad as the video game and therefore should be banned at any location that does not carry the game. They say that Christians are just trying to earn “God points” by obeying scripture that calls for violence against women.
Kmart and Target stores in the country announced they will not be carrying a new version of the video game Grand Theft Auto Five, which was released last month for two new game systems. The ban came after a petition of 50,000 asked for the game to not be carried because it is a “sickening game that encourages players to commit sexual violence and kill women.”
“Games like this are grooming yet another generation of boys to tolerate violence against women. It is fueling the epidemic of violence experienced by so many girls and women in Australia—and globally,” reads the petition.
“We have firsthand experience of this kind of sexual violence. It haunts us, and we’ve been trying to rebuild our lives ever since,” the petition continues. “Just knowing that women are being portrayed as deserving to be sexually used by men and potentially murdered for sport and pleasure—to see this violence that we lived through turned into a form of entertainments is sickening and causes us great pain and harm.”
A group of anti-Christianists are getting their way with a Florida school board.
A New York based Satanic organization descended on the Orange County School Board after the virulent anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened the district over allowing Bibles to be distributed in schools. The Satanists wanted to distribute a coloring book praising Satan.
“This really has, frankly, gotten out of hand,” Orange County Chairman Bill Sublette told reporters this week. “I think we’ve seen a group or groups take advantage of the open forum we’ve had.”
The Satanic Temple says they just want to educate children about worshipping Satan.
“I am quite certain that all of the children in these Florida schools are already aware of the Christian religion and it’s Bible, and this might be the first exposure these children have to the actual practice of Satanism,” spokesperson Lucien Greaves said.
The school is now banning the distribution of Bibles because of the extra attention, which is the original goal of the anti-Christianists.