Reports on Local Issues |
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People may think there are no church/state issues in our area. While we may not be in the epicenter of such issues, they do arise here. Below are brief reports on issues that have arisen in Oregon, or nearby in Washington. Report an Issue |
Special Parking Rules for Portland Churchgoers?
Defy the Law? Oregon Clergy Say NO!
Aumsville Should Remove “Belief in God” From its City Website
Jefferson School District Rejects Intelligent Design
A Bible Verse for a Senior Class Motto?
Court Orders that Violate Religious Beliefs
Sisters School Board Fires Teacher
Oregon HB 2893 Religious Indoctrination Meetings
Oregon HB 2947 Religious Topics and Founding Documents in Our Schools
Saying “NO” to Intelligent Design in Hillsboro Schools
Busted for Praying In School?
Sisters School District Must Repay $1,200,000
The Academy of Character and Ethics
Prayer at City Council Meetings – By AU Member Gary Dielman
Misuse of “Faith Based” Money by the Northwest Marriage Institute
Bible Study Group during Lunch Period at Middle School
Atheists, Scouts, and Recruiting in Public Schools
For more about Americans United and our issues go to: www.AU.org
For more NW church/state issues, visit the web sites of:
ACLU Oregon, ACLU Washington and ACLU Idaho.
Special Parking Rules for Portland Churchgoers? – Posted March 23, 2009
Lesson this Sunday morning – government should treat all citizens fairly.
It is not often a mayor suggests favoring those citizens who attend church on Sunday, but Portland’s Mayor Sam Adams did. He wants to raise money by charging for on-street parking in downtown Portland on Sundays. Raising revenue is part of his job, but, according to Oregonlive.com, he said the charge would not apply on Sunday until 1 P.M. “…to avoid charging people coming downtown for church.”
Maybe Mayor Adams should be applauded for his honesty, but he seems to be unaware that government decisions should not be made for the purpose of favoring religion. In this case, favoring people who worship downtown on Sunday mornings, not those who worship on other days or at other times, or who ride the bus.
Even in situations like this when it might be nice to give some Sunday churchgoers a special break, the First Amendment does not allow government to play favorites. We thought making this point was at least worth a short chat with the mayor, so we called his office and briefly explained our concern to his answering system. We also asked for a call back, which we have not received yet.
Defy the Law? Oregon Clergy Say NO! – Posted Nov. 12, 2008
“Pulpit Freedom Sunday” a Bust in Oregon
The Alliance Defense Fund invited pastors across the United States to illegally endorse candidates from the pulpit on Sept. 28, 2008, “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”
To their credit, many pastors actively opposed this bad idea. Most others wisely just preached about religion, not politics that day. In fact, only 31 pastors in the nation volunteered to openly defy the law. Just one of them was in Oregon.
According to the Alliance Defense Fund, the only Oregon pastor volunteering to break the law was a pastor in Fossil (pop. 470).
Under the IRS code, churches and other religious groups may apply for tax exempt status. However, they may lose that status if they engage in partisan politics. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” was designed to challenge the code.
As a non-profit organization, Americans United is not allowed to engage in partisan politics either. However, like most churches and religious organizations, we respect and follow the law. We also support vigorous enforcement of the IRS code.
For more information on “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” go to www.au.org and look in the November 2008 issue of Church and State magazine.
Aumsville Should Remove “Belief in God” From its City Website
Statement does not belong on city website – Posted Oct. 15, 2008, updated Oct. 28, 2008 and Feb. 20, 2009.
In June of 2008 the Aumsville City Council had a vacancy and needed someone to fill it. Andy Antonson considered applying. To get more information, he attended a city council meeting and went to the city’s website. There, he discovered a section about the city’s “Mission Statement” and “Team Values.” One of the values listed was “Belief in God.”
Andy is a practicing Buddhist and, like most Buddhists, he does not have a belief in God. However, like most Americans, he believes in separation of church and state. So, he wondered if the city was violating the law. He also wondered if they posted that "value" so people like him would know they were not welcome.
Andy found our chapter’s website and contacted us. We shared his concern and supported his plan to contact the city. Andy sent the city administrator an email and about a month later, he sent her a letter. Both times he said the statement on the website “…supports a single view regarding faith and excludes those who do not share this view. Additionally, it provides for government advocacy of a particular religious doctrine which is a violation the separation of church and state.”
The city did not reply to Andy, so, our chapter called the city administrator, Maryann N. Hills, and followed up with a letter, asking her to remove the statement about “Belief in God.” Then, on October 23, 2008 we received an e-mail from Ms. Hills saying: “Based on your letter and conversations with the city attorney I will have staff take the Staff Team Values off the website.”
A few days later we visited the website and the statement had been removed. We took the city at their word and assumed that was the end of it, so we did not visit the site again for quite a while. However, when we did visit it again, the statement had re-appeared with this disclaimer added: “The city of Aumsville is an equal opportunity employer. These are the personal values esteemed by some, and maybe not all city employees. They are solely the values and belief of staff individuals.” This disclaimer does not address the basic question of why any governmental entity needs to determine their employees’ religious beliefs, let alone publish that information on their official website.
We called the Mayor, Harold White, who essentially denied responsibility. He said the employees, decided to put the statement back up and that he and the city council had no role in the decision. This is, of course beside the point. The city government owns the website and is responsible for its content.
Mayor White refused to remove the statement. Since this is not acceptable, we will have more to say about this issue in the future.
(To view the city’s statement go to the Aumsville website and scroll down the home page to the AUMSVILLE STAFF TEAM VALUES…Faith/Religion section. Read a reasoned comment on this issue by Columbia Chapter Member Helen Lipson.)
Jefferson School District Rejects Intelligent Design
Science Classes will not include Intelligent Design – Posted Aug. 29, revised Sept. 9, 2008.
Several months ago, in the Jefferson (Oregon) School District, a local pastor challenged what was being taught in geology class. He objected to the scientific explanation that the earth is billions of years old. He questioned class materials and wanted to invite a speaker to present an opposing point of view to the class.
This is a strategy employed by the proponents of Intelligent Design (ID) and Creation Science. They attempt to insert their religious views into science classes by arguing that it is only fair to present divergent points of view. Oregon state standards and rules, however, stipulate that only science be taught in science class. (Of course students may be taught religious interpretations in churches and at home.)
The teacher held her ground and wisely said no to ID being presented in her classroom. At that point, School district administrators should have made it clear to the pastor that they supported the teacher and that only science will be taught in science class, and that should have been the end of it.
However, after months of negotiating and delay, the pastor was emboldened. He attended the August 11, 2008 school board meeting and spoke publicly about his proposals. He still wanted to have the speaker on “ID” come to the class and he still challenged materials used in the class.
Rather than clearly support state law at the board meeting, the superintendent and two of the five board members announced that they believed in Intelligent Design! The superintendent even went on to say to the teacher: “Who knows, you may end up having to teach it in your class.”
When we heard about this, our chapter president put in a call to both the superintendent and the school board chairperson. Neither of them returned his call, but soon after that the superintendent told the teacher they should meet to resolve the issue.
Two of our chapter members accompanied the teacher to the next school board meeting, where the superintendent finally laid out the Oregon Department of Education’s (ODE’s) position that ID must not be taught in science classes. This information was available when this issue first came up, of course, but the superintendent did not act on it then, like he should have.
Meanwhile, the teacher was left feeling unsupported for seven months! When the school board received the information about ODE’s position, they realized they had to act. They asked the teacher to make one very minor change in a teaching material she had used and sent a letter to the pastor indicating the issue was closed.
A Bible Verse for a Senior Class Motto?
The McKenzie School District Says “No.” Feb. 2008
The senior class at the small, rural McKenzie High School was recently involved in a controversy involving the separation of church and state. The students chose their senior class motto: "They that believe shall mount up with wings as eagles". The administration, realizing this was actually a bible verse with some changes, told the students to find another motto.
One of the students objected to that decision. She pointed out that the motto was not the same as the bible verse, which reads “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.” She said they had changed it so that it was not religious. Besides, the school’s mascot was an eagle. The district stood its ground and the debate could have ended there. However, the student wrote a “Guest Viewpoint” which was published in the Eugene Register Guard. The Guard also published an article and several letters to the editor, many of which disagreed with the district’s decision.
Students don’t like to have their decisions overruled and they may not entirely understand the reasons. This can seem like such trivial matter, but the administration made the right decision. Separation of church and state is one of the fundamental principles of our country, a principle that needs to be supported. We hope that this episode has made the students more aware of this principle.
Court Orders that Violate Religious Beliefs
The Importance of Reporting Violations - September 2007
A few months ago, a man called our chapter to report that he had been ordered by an Oregon court to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. He informed the court that he was an Atheist and that AA meetings had religious content. He refused to attend. Instead, he requested the court to find an organization that would not violate his religious rights. Our chapter does not have the resources to deal locally with legal issues, so we referred him to the national AU Legal Department.
Meanwhile, a similar situation arose in a Hawaiian court. A man objected to compulsory participation in AA, citing his Buddhists beliefs. The issue worked its way up to the 9th Circuit Court which, while acknowledging the important work done by AA, ruled in favor of the man. (The case is Inouye v. Kemna, Sept. 7, 2007)
The situation here in Oregon did not lead to this decision, but it is a reminder that court cases can begin anywhere. It takes just one person to take a stand for separation of church and state by reporting a violation.
Sisters School Board Fires Teacher
Religion Will Not Be Taught in Science Class - March 2007
Part time Biology teacher Kris Helphinstine was fired March 14, 2007 by the Sisters, Oregon School District after only eight days on the job.
Rather than following the text book to teach the theory of evolution to his freshman and sophomore biology students, Mr. Helphinstine relied mostly on supplemental materials, some of which were from the answeringgenesis.org web site. This web site promotes the concept of creationism and is "dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith, and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively."
He also showed students pictures of Nazi concentration camps and made outrageous connections between the theory of evolution, eugenics and Nazis!
Oregon education standards clearly require the teaching of evolution.
The federal government also has a policy about teaching about scientific theory and religious beliefs in schools:
"Schools may teach about explanations of life on earth, including religious ones (such as 'creationism'), in comparative religion or social studies classes. In science class, however, they may present only genuinely scientific critiques of, or evidence for, any explanation of life on earth, but not religious critiques (beliefs unverifiable by scientific methodology)."
Mr. Helphinstine’s actions blatantly violated these policies. His actions created a furor which was covered by several newspapers. They thrust the Sisters School Board into an unwelcome controversy. However, to their credit, the Board responded courageously and quickly. Their action delivered a clear message that they intend to teach science, not religion to the students in the Sisters School District.
Religious Indoctrination Meetings
Columbia Chapter Supports Oregon House Bill 2893 - March 16, 2007
Our chapter took a position of support of Oregon House Bill 2893, the Worker Freedom Act and asked our members to write to their representatives in support of the bill.
The bill relates to mandatory workplace communications to employees about the employer's opinions. It will give employees the freedom to walk away from political, anti-union, and religious indoctrination meetings, and would bar employers from firing or disciplining workers who choose not to attend or who report unlawful forced meetings.
Public hearings on the bill were held in the House Business and Labor Committee.
Then, on May 8, 2007 the Oregonian reported that all references to “religious matters” had been dropped from the bill. This was done because members of the legislature had concerns “…that the bill could have a chilling effect on the convocations that start each floor session.”
Apparently they chose to object to the bill rather than to the convocations!
(Even with the changes, the bill died in committee.)
Religious Topics and Founding Documents in Our Schools
Columbia Chapter Opposes Oregon House Bill 2947 - March, 2007
HB 2947 implies our public schools do not currently allow students to read historic documents or study religious topics. Our chapter asked our members to write their legislators, asking them to vote NO.
HB 2947 would let students study and report on topics that are religious in nature. The measure also would require schools to encourage students in all grades to read documents like the Mayflower Compact, the Federalist Papers, the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem. Note that these examples all are document that contain religious references.
This is an idea in search of a problem. Religious topics may currently be studied in our schools. Teachers understand that students and their parents have a variety of religious beliefs and they carefully make professional judgments about how best to deal with religious topics. This is as it should be. Teachers do not need a new law to tell them what to do.
The bill was referred to the Education Committee and did not emerge for a vote.
Saying “NO” to Intelligent Design in Hillsboro Schools
The Hillsboro School Board Does the Right Thing! - March 2007
In January of 2007, a citizen presented a proposal to a citizens advisory committee of the Hillsboro, Oregon, School District. The proposal would require science teachers to teach specific objections to evolutionary theory and then ask the students to decide. The committee did not want to take action on it and suggested he present the proposal to the School Board.
The proposal looked like Intelligent Design to us, so we wrote a letter advising the District to reject the proposal. We told Board members that, even if they found the proposal to be intriguing, it does not follow that it should be adopted into the curriculum. We said Hillsboro students should continue to study accepted scientific ideas as they are taught to K-12 students throughout the United States. We advised the Board to continue to follow Oregon Department of Education guidelines and to avoid miring the District in controversy
Nothing happened for a while, but we continued to monitor the situation. Finally the citizen asked for time to present his proposal at the Board’s March 20th meeting.
We sent an email to the Board, suggesting they deny the request. When the Board would not schedule time for the proposal on the agenda, the citizen came to the meeting anyway and spoke during the brief audience time. The Board simply listened and thanked him, but took no action.
We applaud them for that and hope this episode is now over.
When public agencies handle difficult issues well like this, it is easy to wonder why we need to get involved. But, of course, as issues emerge we do not know what course they will take. When we write a letter or take other action, the agency knows they will have our support if they stand up for church/state separation. We should not wait for little issues to become big issues before we get involved!
Busted for Praying In School?
Praying Is Allowed But Does Not Confer Special Rights - April 2007
For about a week in March 2007, a group of students at Heritage High School, near Vancouver Washington, made a practice of praying before school in the commons, a busy area of the school. They formed a circle, held hands, and prayed, some silently, some aloud. Saying the prayer sessions blocked traffic, school officials asked the group to pray in a less crowded area such as a classroom.
The students cited their right to pray at school. The administration agreed, but insisted they had a responsibility to maintain order. On March 1st, the administration warned the students that if they did not desist, they would be punished. The next day the group ignored the warning and the administration disciplined twelve students.
This situation was covered in an even-handed manner by The Columbian and The Oregonian newspapers. Both cited experts who said students have a right to pray in schools and that school officials have a right to enforce school rules.
We agree. We support the students’ right to pray. However, praying does not confer special rights. It does not exempt students from school rules.
We do not agree with those who seized on this issue as more proof that public schools are hostile to Christians! However, within days a Google search revealed several web sites exploiting this issue, incorrectly citing it as proof that prayer is not allowed in public schools.
Since this happened in their area, the Clark County, Washington chapter of Americans United responded by writing letters to the editor. They also reserved a meeting room and invited the public to attend a discussion of the law regarding prayer in public schools. Over sixty people attended; a full house! The chapter also reports that currently the students are having a prayer circle outside before school and that there has been no interference by students or faculty. We congratulate the Clark County Chapter for their response to this incident.
Sisters School District Must Repay $1,200,000
Public Money Used to Benefit a Religious Institution - September 2006
We commend the Oregon Secretary of State’s Audit Division for exposing illegal use of public money by the Sisters School District. In a summary of their audit, they say:
The district’s homeschool program took place on the premises of Sonrise Christian School. The overwhelming majority of students the homeschool program “tutors” taught were Sonrise students. This is contrary to a 1973 Oregon Court of Appeals decision, which held that programs in which parochial school students are enrolled in public schools and also receive education from public school teachers in a parochial building violate the constitutional prohibition on use of public money to benefit a religious institution.
The district employed 15 homeschool tutors for the Sonrise site during our audit period. Twelve of these tutors were employed concurrently as teachers by Sonrise Christian School. Moreover, three of the tutors we interviewed stated that the curriculum they used did not change after the district employed them.
Clearly this is an issue of church/state separation. The district billed the Department of Education for the students as if they were attending a district program, not a religious school. This resulted in an overpayment of $1,200,000, a very large sum for a small district like Sisters. Now the Department of Education wants the money back!
We commend both the Audit Division and the Department of Education for investigating and for demanding the money be repaid. Strong action serves notice that education programs must not violate the law!
Note:
A concerned citizen notified the Secretary of State’s office or there might not have been any investigation. After the investigation, one of our members alerted us. Each of us can make a difference if we choose to get involved.
The Academy of Character and Ethics
A Church’s Proposal for a Charter School
The Mt. Olivet Baptist Church submitted a proposal for a charter school to be called the Academy of Character and Ethics (ACE). It would be run by the church, located in Jefferson High School and paid for by the Portland Public School District!
Our chapter held a meeting on April 17, 2006 to discuss this issue and to consider what action to take. We decided to contact the Portland Public School District to get information about the process and to let them know we were interested in this issue.
At various points in this process several Portland newspapers ran small articles on the proposal.
But suddenly, the proposal was withdrawn.
Then, in the next school year the proposal reappeared! However, it was now significantly different. A nonprofit organization had been formed to run the school, which would now be located at the Holy Cross Catholic Church. Even with the changes, we still saw significant church/ state issues.
We contacted the school district and signed up to speak about ACE at a board meeting. In preparation, we attended a board subcommittee meeting which was considering charter school proposals. At that meeting the subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend that the board reject the ACE proposal.
However, the request never came before the board; suddenly it was withdrawn again! All we know is that this is no longer an issue at this time.
Unfortunately, President Bush's "faith based initiative" gives the impression that separation of church and state is no longer the law! We want to deliver a clear message that this is not the case. You can help. If you know of anything in our area that should be brought to our attention, please contact us at keepthemseparate@aol.com.
Prayer at City Council Meetings – By AU Member Gary Dielman
After 120 Years, Baker City Council Begins Council Meetings with Prayer
I was elected to the city council of Baker City, Oregon in 1998. I started attending city council meetings and was surprised to see that meetings began with prayer. No other city council in Baker County began their meetings with prayer, nor did Baker County Commission meetings. In fact, Baker City council didn't begin meetings with prayer for its first 120 years.
As a city councilor I could not condone asking citizens to stand and pray with city council before hearing their requests and concerns with its obvious element of coercion. For a year I tried behind the scenes to convince my fellow city councilors to drop prayer from the agenda.
My concerns were "outed" by a local newspaper person, to whom a city councilor had given copies of my emails. (The emails were not confidential and I had no problem with anyone seeing them.) Once the controversy became public, letters to the editor pro and con flew back and forth for several months, especially after a petition was circulated to recall me from city council.
To shorten the story, I was recalled with a year left on my four-year term. I continued my efforts with limited success. The mayor invited rather than told citizens to stand for the invocations. When city council would not stop "Jesus" prayers, I complained to Americans United, which sent to city council a threat to sue if it did not stop sectarian prayers. Within a month and a turnover in mayors, city council stopped its sectarian prayers. City council still begins with an invocation led by a staff member, but the prayers are brown bag; I put them in the category "Dear Lord, please bless this food. Amen and pass the potatoes."
In January 2007, five of the old city councilors will step down and five newly-elected councilors will join two present councilors. I'm hoping the new city council will entirely do away with mixing religion into its meetings.
Gary Dielman can be contacted at tubingen@eoni.com
Misuse of “Faith Based” Money by the Northwest Marriage Institute
Taxpayer Money Promotes a Christian Fundamentalist View of Marriage
The Clark County (Washington) Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) became aware, through an article in the local paper, that the Northwest Marriage Institute, a religious organization, was being supported by tax dollars. Nancy McCarter, chapter president and others launched an investigation and found that “faith based initiative” money was being used to promote a thoroughly Christian fundamentalist view of marriage.
They also learned the Northwest Marriage Institute received two federal grants totaling $97,750 in 2005. A $50,000 grant came from the Compassion Capital Fund, a type of “slush fund” that the White House uses to dole out “faith-based” grants to religious organizations and a $47,750 sub-grant from the Institute for Youth Development, a non-profit organization that has also accepted federal funding.
Chapter leaders realized this information had national implications, so they contacted AU headquarters.
On September 12, 2006, AU filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to block taxpayer funding of the Institute. The suit was filed on behalf of 13 residents and taxpayers of Washington State, among them a Unitarian-Universalist minister. Other plaintiffs identify themselves as Presbyterian, Buddhist, Baptist, Protestant and Secular Humanist.
The lawsuit has important national implications because the Bush administration is promoting massive federal funding for marriage programs.
Additional information on this issue was published in the January Issue of Church and State, AU’s excellent magazine, which can be viewed at www.au.org.
Update: In March, 2007, a judge ruled the Institute had altered its mission and no longer offers Bible-based marriage workshops and dismissed the lawsuit.
Bible Study Group during Lunch Period at Middle School
May Not be Led by Minister
October 2005, AU learned that a minister was leading a meeting of a Bible-study group at Bandon Oregon’s Harbor Lights Middle School in during the school lunch period. We wrote a letter to school officials informing them that allowing a minister to hold religious meetings at a public school during the school day violates the Establishment Clause. We explained that, although the federal Equal Access Act permits student-led religious clubs to meet during non-curricular times, the Act bars outside persons from leading or attending student-club meetings. In her response to our letter, the school-district superintendent stated that she was unaware that a minister had been leading student-club meetings and that she has informed the school principal that regular visits by a minister or any other visitor to student-club meetings are prohibited.
Atheists, Scouts, and Recruiting in Public Schools
After Ten Years of Litigation -- the Oregon Supreme Court’s Decision
Ten years ago, the Portland Public Schools assisted the Boy Scouts in recruiting members at school on school time. Remington Powell, a first grader, was told atheists could not join. His mother, Nancy Powell, did not think the school should allow the scouts to recruit because they discriminated based on religious beliefs. She tried to address this with the school district but was not satisfied by their response, so she sued.
The case was argued by the ACLU on the basis of discrimination, not church/ state separation.
After working its way through the legal system, the case finally reached the Oregon Supreme Court. On Sept. 8, 2006 the court announced the decision. It was based on an extremely narrow reading of the law, and found that what the school district had done was not illegal.
Nancy Powell lost the case. However, in an editorial after the decision, The Oregonian said:
Last week, officially anyway, atheist Nancy Powell lost her battle. Yet in the intervening decade, she has more than made her point. Powell alone didn't trigger changes in recruitment for children's organizations in the schools, but she helped to trigger such changes.
We Agree. Nancy Powell could have let the situation pass but she (and Remington) had the courage to take action, an example to us all.
For more information, search the web for the case: Powell v. Bunn.