The Saga of Stevens Creek Elementary School
* Stevens Creek Elementary vs the ADF.
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/stevens.htm
* Information and links regarding the suit of a teacher against his
Cupertino, CA superiors for infringement of 1st Amendment rights which is
backed by the Alliance Defense Fund.
o Church-State Separation in the United States: Religion in Public
Schools and the Legal/Off-Courtroom Strategies of the Christian Right
http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/christianright.htm
o Far-Right Fundamentalists launch intimidation campaign against
Stevens Creek Elementary School Principal in Cupertino, CA
http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm
o Update on Stevens Creek
http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm#UPDATE020505
o Alliance Defense Fund belatedly acknowledges that the claim
that the "Declaration of Independence was banned..."
http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm#1_1
*******************************************************************************************
FYI...this is an update on the fake ³Declaration of Independence² lawsuit
by ADF against the Cupertino school district/principal. Recently they filed
an amended lawsuit, with additional documents listed as ³handouts² that the
teacher was prevented from showing students without listing the contents
of the handouts. (They removed the original lawsuit and documents from
their website).
My update, with links (including good quotes from some of the parents), is
posted here:
http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm#UPDATE020505
In short, I spent a couple of hours analyzing some information from ADF's
amended lawsuit. Not surprisingly, more examples of Williams'
propagandizing emerge, as seen in the two of the new handouts mentioned in
this amended lawsuit (which I looked at) - Handout g and Handout h (more
info below); again, there is bogus or dubious information in these
handouts.
Additionally, thanks to a forwarded message from a Stevens Creek Elementary
School parent, who is part of "We The Parents", ADF has belatedly
acknowledged (in response to a letter from "We the Parents") the following:
"Some media reports have incorrectly characterized the lawsuit filed on
behalf of teacher Stephen Williams against the Cupertino Union School
District as challenging a complete ban by the school of the Declaration of
Independence from the entire school. That characterization is wrong."
So, they blame the media for this lie rather than taking ownership for
their own false claim (which continues to show up on their website!). They
claim the lawsuit is still valid because Williams was discriminated against
etc. etc....
TR
-----------------------------------------------------
The individual links are as follows.
------
1.
http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm#HANDOUTG
Handout g (page 9): The Conversion of Quaker Isaac Potts to the Cause of
Patriotism through the Observation of George Washington's Prayer, from Rev.
Nathanial Randolph Snowden, Diary and Remembrances
Although this document is not attached to the lawsuit, it is easily found
via a Google search. Not surprisingly the story of the "conversion of
Quaker Isaac Potts...." turns out to be one whose authenticity is dubious
at best. Indeed, Presidential historian Franklin Steiner covered this in
his "The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents" and states that this is just
another urban legend....
[more details in my website]
-----
-----
2.
http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm#HANDOUTH
Handout h (page 9): ³George Washington¹s Adopted Daughter Discusses
Washington¹s Religious Character,² by Nelly Custis-Lewis
This document (also not in the lawsuit) appears to refer to this letter.
While (teacher) Stephen Williams was free to use this self-serving letter
by Custis-Lewis (which is certainly a historical document), it was
irresponsible of him to not include facts that independently show that the
claims in the letter about Washington's religiosity do not withstand proper
scrutiny. At best, Williams' intention to distribute this uncritically is
consistent with his tendency to proselytize or skew history towards his
perspective. More objectively, it is another indication of his willingness
to foist dubious or false information on his unsuspecting students to push
his "Christian" agenda.
[more details in my website]
-----
-----
3. http://www.eriposte.com/philosophy/fundamentalism/stevenscreek.htm#1_1
1.1 Alliance Defense Fund belatedly acknowledges that the claim that the
"Declaration of Independence was banned..." from the school is false, but
blames the media for this rather than taking ownership for their own false
claim
[comments and press releases follow, with this conclusion:]
Indeed, ADF continues to lie on their website. Even as of 2/5/05, the
headline associated with their November news release still says:
"Declaration of Independence Banned from Classroom"!!!
-----
.
|
