Should Faith in Jesus Be Promoted Via Public School "Backpack Mail?"

Waxing America hero of the day is Madison third-grade teacher Alan Ginsberg, who blew the whistle on a local church flier to be sent home in his student's backpacks that read: "Plant the Seeds of Faith in Jesus in Your Child at Our Sunday School."

The Capital Times' Susan Troller has the story:

Alan Ginsberg, a 31-year veteran in the Madison public schools, teaches at Van Hise Elementary. He said Christian as well as Jewish and Buddhist parents he spoke with were offended by the flier and said they believed it crossed a line separating church and state by actively promoting a particular religious creed. Ginsberg estimated there are 13 languages spoken in his third grade-classroom, with students coming from a multitude of ethnicities and religious backgrounds.

"It's ironic. We're doing a daylong in-service training on how to be culturally sensitive, and yet we have a policy that requires us to send out a flier that asks students to invite Jesus into their lives, even if their family is not Christian," Ginsberg said.

Ginsberg can now expect to be raked over the coals by Bill O'Reilly and his ilk.  Some advice: don't accept an invitation to talk to any of them. It's a no-win arena.

- Barry Orton

Comments

[Anon]

Who else would you invite Jesus into their lives but non-Christians. I don't see this being a violation of free speech, so what if someones nose got out of joint.

[makarios]

I suppose to be culturally sensitive they teach in all 13 languages in equal blocks of time?

[Gary Schepp]

To Anon:

Not anywhere does anyone say it is a violation of free speech.

It is a state church separation violation. And it is a bad misuse of school resources that would be better served in teaching the students.

Will the schools let all religion related material be dispersed thru their schools or just the ones they deem "appropriate"? Will they allow Wiccan, Pagan, Koresh, Muslim, cults or other to push their material? It is also totally inappropriate to use children as a means to convert the parents.