Public school students in Louisiana (LA)
have new legal guidance about constitutionally-protected religious expression. Republican LA Attorney General Jeff Landry
and U.S Rep. Mike Johnson have together released the Louisiana Student Rights
Review to provide information on what is allowed at school under the U.S. Constitution.
“We wanted people to know, and
students especially to know, that their First Amendment rights are not surrendered
at the schoolhouse door,” Landry tells OneNewsNow.
“And that they do have a right to express
their religious views while they are on campus and during their school time.”
The legal guidelines are meant to help
public school officials who might find themselves the target of atheist groups,
which allege violations of the ‘establishment clause’ and threaten costly
lawsuits if their demands go unmet. Facing
a costly court fight, the schools often back down. “That’s the reason we put the book out,” Landry
says. “It’s put together in an
easy-to-read format, and it lays out some great questions and answers that
students may have in regards to exercising their religious beliefs during
school time or during extracurricular activities, “ says Landry.
Landry, a former U.S.
congressman, won election to the attorney general’s office in 2016. He says America was founded on
Judeo-Christian principles, especially the belief that mankind’s rights are
God-given, not granted by human beings or by a government. “That has been enshrined at the beginning
from the Declaration of Independence through our Constitution,” he says. “And so this is a way to ensure that those
students, as they go about their daily lives, understand that their religious
beliefs are not to be dropped off at the front door of school,” says Landry.
Thank God for elected
officials who understand our fundamental rights and set students at liberty to
freely express their faith.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
If I may offer a bit of sarcasm, school districts in MN would be protected from atheist groups because we have passed laws against bullying in MN schools. That is exactly what atheist groups do to school districts and they get away with it since the courts have sided with them time after time contrary to the Constitution. The mere presence of a Bible or offering a prayer in no way establishes a religion, yet the atheists and the courts will never be found bullying a school district over a Koran or Muslim prayer. It's only Christians that bother them.
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