Supreme Court: Court Ruling is Good News for Equal Access
Religious conservatives hail religious club case as protection for free-speech.
Sheryl Henderson | posted 8/06/2001 12:00AM
2 of 2
Later Meeting Times
Milford Central School Superintendent Peter Livshin says the school board is likely to maintain an open forum, but could decide to postpone private club meeting times until after 5 o'clock to establish a clearer separation between club and school activities.
Stephen Fournier, pastor of Milford Community Bible Church and sponsor of the Good News Club, says such action would make it difficult to hold club meetings on campus and would send the message that the Good News Club is not welcome. "I can think of no other reason for them to do this other than to keep us out," Fournier says.
Lorence says he is amazed by the degree of hostility toward letting religious groups exercise their First Amendment freedoms. "Sometimes the mindset of school officials is they'd rather have asbestos in the ceiling tiles than private religious speech," he says.
Both sides say they expect the decision will embolden more religious groups to seek the use of public school buildings not just for club activities but also for worship services after school hours. Marcelle says that liberal groups may start challenging the renting out of public schools by churches for worship services.
The Good News ruling is part of a recent trend legal experts say shows the Court leaning away from a strict separationist view. In June, the Court also let stand an Alabama law allowing voluntary group prayers at extracurricular school gatherings and sent back for reconsideration a lower court ruling upholding a Louisiana school district's policy banning the Christian Coalition from using school buildings for prayer meetings.
Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere
Also posted on our site today: Good News Indeed | How many times must the Supreme Court tell schools not to exclude faith groups?
Supreme Court voted in a 6-3 decision (PDF | HTML) to allow the Good News Club of Milford, New York, to use public school buildings.
Editorials on the decision ran in: The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Seattle Times , USA Today. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York Post, Christian Science Monitor, Detroit Free Press, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Related Christianity Today articles include:
Weblog: Beyond the 6-3 Votes That Mattered | Newspaper editorials weigh in on Good News Club v. Milford School District. Plus other stories from mainstream media around the world. (June 14, 2001)
Weblog: Grief Observed Over Abolition of Lewis's Mere Christianity | Plus: Supreme Court okays Christian elementary school club, and American missionaries are still alive. (June 11, 2001)
School Fights Christian Athletes Club | Pending trial in California will test the limits of religion on campus. (June 7, 2001)
Weblog: Supreme Court Apparently Offers 'Good News' for Bible Club | Plus: Ghosts of former Supreme Court decisions return to haunt college campuses, and other stories from around the world. (March 1, 2001)
Equal Access Case Argued | Can an after-school Christian club use public school facilities? The Supreme Court will decide. (May 5, 2001)
Weblog: The Nicest Battle Over Religion in Schools | Plus: Colson gets to vote, Dr. Laura apologizes, and other stories from other media sources. (Oct. 11, 2000)
RSS Feeds
Audio
Twitter
share this page
E-mail
Print
Post
Subscribe to Christianity Today magazine today!
