Bible in Schools: Let Freedom Ring

In almost 40 states and over 400 school districts in the U.S., including Texas, an elective bible course is being taught in public schools.  This seriously irritates local opinion writers and the ACLU, who want to ban your Texas kids from the freedom to choose an elective bible course in school.  That’s right, these courses are electives.  The only students taking a bible course will be those who choose to–no one else, period.   If you read the recent editorial, “Bible class a recipe…”, you owe it to yourself to keep reading.  It’s a shame that local and national intolerant groups, and other wolves in extreme leftwing clothing, want to restrict academic freedom and deprive schools of a huge opportunity to excel.  During the legislative session, one University of Texas professor testified that the taking of an elective course in the history and literature of the bible by a student is the “single greatest thing to do to increase college preparedness.”  Professors from Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Rice, and Texas A & M, also believe knowledge of the bible equals a huge educational advantage.  Why, you ask?  The works of Shakespeare have more than 1300 biblical references, and more than 60% of the allusions recommended for study for the AP Literature and Composition exam are from the bible.  Additionally, people of various religious and nonreligious backgrounds have given their support for these types of courses.  The U.S. Supreme Court itself has said emphatically for the past 40+ years that “the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities.”  We hope you were not misled by the ‘legal opinions’ of an SMU biblical studies professor who is not an attorney (and other pundits with no legal training). The Professor’s survey of Texas Bible courses, although paraded as constitutional law, was in fact a subjective test funded by a liberal Austin group dedicated to religious censorship.  To see evidence of this settled area of law, look no further than the Ector County (Odessa, Texas) case, the only lawsuit in 70+ years regarding a bible course in Texas public schools.  The ACLU sued and wanted to prevent kids in a public school from choosing to read out of the Bible.  Remember this is the same out-of-touch group, the ACLU, which protects pornography online in public school libraries.  Let’s see, pornography in schools, yes, bible, no?  Bizarre.  It’s a shame they had to bring their New York lawyers to Texas, only to give up and settle the case, agreeing to let the school district have a bible class where the bible is the main textbook of the course.  How much did this case cost the Ector County School District?  Zero.  We defended the school district for free and we’ll do it again if necessary, in the name of academic and religious freedom.  We applaud the unified leadership of the State Board of Education, who voted 13-2 to approve such a course, and the bipartisan Texas Legislature in the House and Senate who voted 167-3 for elective bible courses.  Both votes are examples of representative government at its best.  It’s a shame that those with little or no training and experience in these important areas of law and policy want to take away your choice.  Our Texas children deserve better.

 Jonathan Saenz, Director of Legislative Affairs and Attorney, Free Market Foundation

Footsteps to Freedom

Stepping it up in San Antonio

The audience heard the incredible story of Zachary Klopfenstein who survived a partial-birth abortion and against all odds lived to sit in the front of the Supreme Court hearing on a partial-birth abortion ban.

Pastor Brooks also shared his story that ended in victory last year when we won a case that now allows seminaries across Texas to offer Bible degrees, without government entanglement. 

Check It Out!

SPEECHLESS: SILENCING THE CHRISTIANS

Take a look at these videos…they are shocking, true and worth the time. 

www.silencingchristians.com

Headed in the Right Direction

Not everyone is blind to the life-saving possibilities that exist in cord blood collection, although it has taken some persuasion from activists for the government and medical professionals to invest in the process.  In the last legislative session, Free Market lobbied the Texas Legislature to pass a bill that now requires physicians to distribute a Questions and Answers about Cord Blood Banking and Donation to any woman in her third trimester of pregnancy.  SEE the brochure.

There are only a few places in the state that currently perform cord blood collection due to its infancy as a free procedure beginning in 2005. Free Market supporters who have advocated for this training and the spread of cord blood collection visited the Texas Cord Blood Bank to see the fruit of their labor.

Umbilical Cord Blood: Don’t Miss What Is Staring You in the Face

Why is it that Hollywood stars, public officials and garrulous advocates for leukemia and Alzheimer’s cures are insistent on life-taking research over life-saving research?  Just scratching beneath the surface has shown us that there are a number of medical advancements with life-saving potential that are being overlooked, underemphasized and flat-out ignored as misguided pleas for embryonic stem-cell research take the limelight.    Compare our two potential heroes on both sides of the research debate—embryonic stem cells vs. adult stem cells.  Embryonic stem cell research has been abandoned by its pioneers after years of total failure (Dolly the Sheep’s creator) whereas adult stem cells have been proven effective in treating over 70 diseases that affect the heart and immune system, to name a few.  Embryonic stem cells require cloning and then destroying a living embryo, adult stem cells do not take a life to save a life.  So what about supply?  Is the typical response from embryonic stem-cell supporters.  It’s staring you in the face.  Umbilical cord blood, that stuff typically thrown out after the natural events of a baby’s birth, is rich in stem cells that can be used to treat and save the lives of suffering patients that outspoken entertainment stars and politicians claim to care about curing.  I don’t know if compassionate hearts and partisan junkies jumped on-board the embryonic stem-cell train because it was moving so quickly, but progress is on the adult stem cell train, and opponents need to wake up and see they are headed the wrong way.

Free Market Sues City of Plano for Preventing Pastor from using Council Chambers on National Day of Prayer

“No government may discriminate against religious expression and favor one religious group over another because the government disagrees with an exclusive Judeo-Christian message,” said Hiram Sasser, Director of Litigation for Liberty Legal Institute, the law firm representing Pastor Frady.

Pastor Frady of Willowcreek Fellowship every year wakes up early to be the first in line to reserve the Council Chambers for a National Day of Prayer event that Dallas area pastors hold each May.  City rules say a citizen can request to reserve the room 90 days out from the event, and since Pastor Frady was the only one to submit a request—you would think his would be honored. 

Sadly, the City of Plano decided that it does not like a Judeo-Christian event being held in its facilities each year, and so it decided to bypass the 90 day protocol and just endorse its own 2008 National Day of Prayer event, organized by the Multi-Cultural Outreach Committee of Plano.  What happened to religious freedom and tolerance?  The same City that months ago decided to overturn bricks with crosses on them into the dirt, has now schemed to discriminate against a Christian event.  Let’s see if this debacle gets cleaned up as quickly as the bricks! 

A Meeting of Minds:

Kelly Joins Religious Freedom Advocates from ADF to Discuss Upcoming Battles in 2008. (Enduring a grueling weekend in sunny Arizona) 

Pictured:  Kelly Shackelford, Alan Sears (ADF), Clark Forsythe (Americans United for Life), Greg Baylor (Christian Legal Society), Mike Whitehead (Counsel, Widmar v. Vincent case), and Brett Harvey (ADF)

Victory! Odessa school district will continue teaching Bible curriculum

During the ECISD (Ector County ISD) 12:00 noon board meeting today in Odessa, Texas, it was decided that the ACLU’s attack will not stand. The school district will continue teaching Bible courses with a curriculum developed and monitored by ECISD that will utilize the Bible as the primary course textbook. This is a great victory against the ACLU and People for the American Way – who filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the school district back in May 2007 for teaching classes on the Bible’s history and literature. We want to express our great thanks to Mediator Hesha Abrams for fostering this agreement. Click here for our press release.

This is a great victory for ECISD and the community.  ECISD will continue to offer a Bible course, it will be a curriculum of its own choosing, it may use portions of any existing curriculum as a resource, and the Bible will be the main textbook for the course.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for and donated toward this case. We couldn’t have done it without you!

    

Fathers and Daughters Put on Their Dancing Shoes

Our annual father/daughter summit was a huge success this year!

More than 100 pairs turned out for fun, food and a great weekend of connection.

Free Speech Victory!

Today We Won an Injunction Against the Texas State Law Criminalizing Citizen Speech On the Speaker of the House Race! 

“For the first time in two generations, Texans have the freedom to speak out on who they want as Speaker of the House—one of the most powerful political positions in our State.”—Hiram Sasser, Director of Litigation    

“This law was the worst attack on free speech we have seen in the country.  We are thrilled to have a victory for every Texas citizen.”—Kelly Shackelford 

Thank you to those of you who prayed for this case!