Tenn. county halts school Bible giveaways

Tenn. county halts school Bible giveaways
NASHVILLE (UPI) -- Faced with a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, a Tennessee school district has agreed to stop distribution of free Bibles during school hours.

In the past, Gideons International, the Nashville-based group known for putting Bibles in hotel rooms, has given them to fifth-graders in Wilson County. The ACLU said it would bring a suit on behalf of a girl, identified only as Joanne Doe, who said she felt pressured to take a Bible during the giveaway last fall at the Wilson-Carroll Elementary School, The Nashville Tennessean reported.

The Bible distribution took place in the school gym during the school day, the lawsuit said. The principal described for the students how she received her first Bible and then the fifth-graders came up by row to get theirs.

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU in eastern Tennessee, praised Wilson County officials for settling the case.

"It's not our goal to end up in court," she said. "Our goal is to protect the religious liberty of everyone. I commend the Wilson County School Board for reaching an agreement that does that."

While Gideons International has been handing out Bibles in schools for decades, almost every court challenge has found the practice violates the First Amendment.



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This news arrived on: 01/06/2010