Pray for Greece? Already covered.
The Greece Board of Education, AKA the board that can’t shoot straight, stepped into their own poo again. This time, mixing Christianity with public education. Well, it’s Greece after all… where else? The town being sued for Christian prayers at town board meetings. The town that began the new year with Christian prayers for its government.
This time, the Greece School Board is partnering with Christian pastors. They sent home a “Directory of Youth Services,” with students last week. The directory lists over 30 Christian churches and their youth programs, as well as times and places for worship services. From Sunday’s D&C:
The directory - produced and paid for by local churches - lists contact information and youth groups and programs offered by more than 35 Christian churches in the town. Information on local food pantries, town programs, community education and a district-run family support center is also included.
The Christian focus of the directory “crosses a line,” said Gary Pudup, executive director of the Genesee Valley Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “If my kid got this in school, I think the message comes across clear that this is a Christian school district.”
But school board President Julia VanOrman said that’s not the case at all.
“There are Christians in Greece, and non-Christians in Greece; we are a wonderful, diverse melting pot,” she said.
The article explains that Pastor George Grace of First Bible Baptist Chruch is spearheading the partnership effort with the school district. The church is politically active and known for its efforts to integrate Christianity into Greece’s town government. The Town’s 4th of July celebration is held at the Church’s private Grace & Truth Sports Park.
Christianity, bad? No, of course not. Worship at home. Worship in chruch. Worship anyplace, but don’t intertwine your particular faith with our government. The First Amendment says so.
Related posts:
It was mentioned ion the SCAT’s blog that unless missed there was no planned parenthood on the list of services, or any groups in which might counsel gay students or groups concerned with social justice. Just the carefully filtered groups deemed acceptable. It reflects a very narrow outlook not to mention questions of the establishment clause.
But this ought to be linked to a couple of other article on Greece you haven’t mentioned.
There was a piece in the Greece Post about a week and a half ago on the lack of openness of Greece government which mentioned critics of prayer and public access as well as others having trouble getting access to our supervisor. Not to mention the catchphrase “I am Him”" (Kathryn Firkins speaking of her relation to Auberger)
There was also a piece in the D and C you might have missed about a group of churches taking over space previously used by the town for its courts (wonder how they got that space?) to offer a bunch of social services. I don’t think our social services should be outsourced to the churches to administer in Greece.
I bet there is more to this than meets the eye.
Oh the humanity of it all! You’ll likely be dismayed to know that out here in the “boonies” the school has actually partnered with the local churches the past 10 years and has a very successful after-school and summer time program for the Elementary Students and on Friday nights, Jr. High Students are welcome to “hang out” at the house (a house in the village was donated for the partnership), eat snacks, listen to music, and play games.
Is is open to children of all faiths? Do they talk about Christianity at the after school program?
Yes, and no.
Then I don’t have a problem with it.
Andrea:
have you read the document?
Have you considered what is left our of the document?
Have you familiarized yourslef with the background of the document or the participation of Rev Grace and his theocratic poltics?
If not how could you know
I don’t know where the poster lives.
The Western suburbs are increasingly diverse communites.Understding that diversity and not imposing a specific socail cultural or religious framework on it is as imporntt today as it was in the past when immigrants seemed threats to the nativist ideas of some
Nothing is imposed. Participation in the program is strictly voluntary. The only kids that go are the ones that wish to.
I have copy of this directory, it has to be seen to be truly appreciated how bizarre it is.
The very idea that a minister is signing a school document being sent home is creepy enough, then to find out that the district made extraordiary efforts to make sure it went with the youngest member of the family to somehow increase its impact is doubly creepy.
Or course the Reverend Grace has openly railed in the past about all the problems the teaching of evolution has caused…welcome to Dayton, Tenesee…
Since this is the same district that had students filling out questionnaires about their knowledge, access, and use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, sexual practices, etc. etc. I’d say they’re hardly narrow-minded. Parents had to sign a letter opting out of that, and only then if they got the letter their child was sent home with.
Are you trying to compare a school district attempting to determine the extent of drug use, etc, through a confidential survey with a violation of the establishment clause of the constitution.
Of course not, that would be silly.
Realgreecer - I wasn’t referring to the document in the Greece school district. I was responding to whtwtrdood’s example of the school out in the boonie’s where a local church offered a spot for after school activities.
The document in Greece sounds over the line to me.
SOME recognition of the separation of church and state would be appropriate. Monroe County Legislature meetings begin with a prayer. I am an atheist. My views are always dismissed, but I am respectful of the views of others. However, it is outrageous that I should always have to endure prayer and references to deities in situations where such talk is at best irrelevant. BTW– atheists and agnostics are estimated at roughly 18+% of the population. If that is so, why are we not all complaining?
I don’t know, apathy and procrastination both come to mind.
Where did that response come from?
“In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.” –Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 1814. ME 14:119
George Grace and Jack Auberger, how did Tom know?
Ms. Dogwood. Thank you for the quote.
[...] separation of Church and State in Greece. This time the The Greece School board publishes and distributes a very Christian “Directory of Youth [...]