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Several school trustees and Mission Viego High principal Marilyn McDowell have said that the "closed forum" policy is not directed at Christians or religion. If the school allowed noncurriculum clubs, trustee Dore Gilbert says, then the school "could have the Aryan Brotherhood, gay clubs, satanic clubs; it would open it to everybody." (The school denied club status to a homosexual group last year.)

University of Utah law professor Michael McConnell says the federal Equal Access Act was designed to protect religious groups on campuses, but it allows for others too.

Attorney Brad Dacus of the Pacific Institute of Justice says many Christians agree with the equal-access principle: "The basic principle is letting the light shine alongside the darkness. When put side by side, the light always wins."

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Christianity Today earlier reported on The Good News Club v. Milford Central School and a public school revival ignited by a Fellowship of Christian Athletes presentation.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes site has a press release about the California court decision as well as more information about the organization.

The Pacific Justice Institute also has a press release about the ruling and subsequent developments.

Articles about religion in schools recently appearing in the mainstream media include:

Florida House approves school-prayer bill | The Senate, however, does not have a companion bill, and leaders in the upper chamber don't expect to vote on the issue. (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)

Cumberland High School chapel is reopened | ACLU still questioning presence of pews, crosses (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky)

Bible club debate heats up on Internet | Chat rooms and Web sites have lit up with messages posted by people both for and against religious groups meeting on middle-school campuses. (The Arizona Republic)

School-prayer bill moves forward in Florida House | High school students could lead prayers at school graduations and other assemblies that they aren't required to attend under a bill ready for a vote by the state House. (Associated Press)

Complaint ends public prayer at New Mexico high school | The Alamogordo, N.M., school district has stopped allowing prayers at school-sponsored events after the American Civil Liberties Union complained about a prayer by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at a high school football game. (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)

Muslim student sues Louisiana school over Bible distribution | 11-year-old says she was forced to play a "Jesus game" in school and was told by classmates that she would "burn in hell." (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)

N.D. Legislature approves religious-documents bill | What began as a proposal to display the Ten Commandments in North Dakota's public schools has become a new requirement for school boards to draft policies for the display of religious documents. (Associated Press/Freedom Forum)

First Amendment protects student 'God-talk' in public schools | What is it about student religious speech that causes some school officials to react with fear and trembling? (Charles Haynes, Freedom Forum)

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June 11 2001, Vol. 45, No. 8